Thirst
by fandomtrashpanda
Summary: Howzer/OC fics that are the result of me being thirsty af. Just let me scream into the void. Howzer/OC
1. We Meet Again

Chapter 1: "Hey we were childhood friends until you left town for some reason or another and I've been stuck here and now for some reason you've come back and are hoping to reconnect AU"

* * *

"Not bad, Celia, not bad at all," Celia said to herself after crunching the numbers for her bakery. "One more month of profits like this and you might be able to afford to hire a person or two," she muttered. She heard her phone buzz and groaned, picking it up and scowling at the caller ID.

 _ **Unknown Number**_

"Like hell," she snorted, ignoring the call and packing up her books to stow them away in the safe under her desk. "Don't know who you are, unknown," she muttered as she turned off the light in her office and went about double-checking the rest of the bakery - _her_ bakery - to make sure that everything was in order before leaving.

She was unlocking the door to leave when she saw movement at one of the tables on the patio, frowning when she realized there was a man sitting outside, looking at his phone; he looked up as soon she had started unlocking the door, jumping to his feet when she stepped outside.

"Sir, we've been closed for nearly an hour now - whatever you need is going to have to wait until the morning," she said, not stepping out of the door completely.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for three days," the man said, rubbing the back of his while smiling nervously at her.

"That isn't creepy at all," she deadpanned, the light of the street lamp illuminating his face; she gasped softly when he came a bit closer, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Wait - _Howzer_?"

"I wanted to give you a heads up to let you know I was back in town, but you changed your phone number and weren't answering the new one -"

"-I don't answer calls from numbers I don't recognize," she responded. He stopped when there was a fair three feet separating them, clearing his throat nervously.

"My, uh, my old man told me that this is where I could find you, since you moved out of your parents' place." He looked up at the building and smiled brightly before looking at her again, "I'm glad to see you got that bakery you always wanted!"

"Yeah, almost two years!" She tried to cheer, but it came out weakly. "So… what are you doing back in town, exactly?"

"You didn't hear?" He said, perking up a bit in surprise, "I'm back in town."

"I can see that," she said, finally closing the door to the bakery, "but for how long?"

"Until I quit my job at the recruiter's office," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. She choked on a laugh, shaking her head as she shoved her key into the lock forcefully.

"Helping other kids get out of this podunk, dead-end town that's held up by the fact that it shares a ZIP code with one of the top five private universities in the state?" She asked, getting a small sense of satisfaction out of the way he winced.

"That isn't fair." She laughed and locked the door, yanking her key out and tossing it into her purse.

"Let me know when you figure out something that is fair," she answered, getting out her car keys and crossing the parking lot.

"Wait - Celia!" _Damn his long legs!_ She cursed herself when he intercepted her in hardly three steps. She glared up at him, her hands shaking at her sides.

"Get out of my way, Howzer."

"Not until you hear me out."

"I will _mace_ you -"

"-That's my jacket." A tense silence washed over them as Celia squeezed her eyes shut and muttered a cuss word to herself. "Tell me if you've seen anyone else."

"Why do you even care?" She demanded.

"I've missed you."

"You stopped writing me two years ago - when I was starting my business, when I could have used some extra emotional support -"

"I was a commissioned officer, Celia," he said quietly. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, running her hand through her hair. "You cut your hair."

"If you've been a commissioned officer, what are you doing here with a job at the recruiters office?" When he failed to respond she scowled and sniped, "If you're looking to recreate senior prom night, my dad sold the truck last year." She tried to step around him, groaning in frustration when he sidestepped to intercept her again. "I am this close to screaming -"

"-I'm scared." She stopped and looked up at him, seeing the way his eyes wavered in spite of his locked jaw. "I'm terrified, Celia, and right now I'm looking for the slightest bit of comfort I can find - and since I was fifteen, the only times I've felt genuinely safe have been when I'm with you."

"What has you so scared that a tough guy like you can't walk right by it?" She whispered, her voice shaking. He took a step back so he could lean over and tug up his pant leg, revealing the metal joint at his ankle. "How -?" She gasped.

"It only comes up to about here," he said quietly, tapping his fingers about halfway up his calf, "and I got to keep a lot more than some of the other guys."

"Four years of high school in JROTC, four years at a military academy, only to get your foot blown off in two years?" She whispered in disbelief, watching him adjust his pant leg and stand up again.

"Technically eighteen months - I've been in physical therapy since then, getting used to the thing." Things were quiet before he admitted, "That's why I'm scared. I spent so many years working towards a single goal, and then this happened..." he gestured at his foot weakly.

"So... what do you want from me?" She asked, looking up at him. "I'm not the girl I was back in high school, Howzer," she told him gently, "I don't know if I can give you what you might be looking for."

"And I'm not the guy I was back in high school, which means I'm not looking for what I had in high school - what _we_ had in high school," Howzer responded, adjusting his pant leg as he stood up straight. She looked around the empty parking lot and sighed, dragging one of her hands down her face.

"How did you even get here?" She asked weakly.

"My dad dropped me off," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You say you aren't the same guy, and yet you still keep rubbing the back of your neck when you're nervous," she said, "you're going to -"

"-Give myself a bald spot?" He interrupted her, finishing her sentence before she had the chance. "That was what you told me the first time I asked you out."

"Junior prom," she confirmed with a nod and a small smile. She pressed her lips together, her expression thoughtful; Howzer waited patiently. "Do you want to come over for tea?" She asked quietly, smiling at the way his shoulders slumped as he sighed with relief.

"Yes," he said, smiling brightly at her.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"So, what even happened?" Celia asked, handing the cup of tea to Howzer before sitting down on the opposite end of the couch from him. "Not necessarily about the missing foot, but… what made you decide to come back here?"

"To be honest, I missed it," he said, looking thoughtful. "I know I called this town a 'dead end podunk' six years ago, but now…"

"But now?" She pressed.

"I've realized that it's… cozy here," he said, "and back when I was a kid, that was suffocating. But after the shit I went through overseas, it feels like something I need."

"The quiet won't drive you insane?" She asked, smiling at him as he took another sip of tea. "I remember that was another point you made."

"I need the quiet," he muttered; his statement was promptly contradicted by a soft squeaking sound at his feet, accompanied by something brushing against his good leg. He looked down and blinked in surprise at the sight of a tiny Siamese cat walking across his feet and jumping onto the couch, bumping its head against his arm. "Um -?"

"Hey there, Sugar-baby," Celia cooed, crawling towards him so that she was sitting with less than a foot of space between them, her legs curled under her so there was space for the cat to curl against against her. "This is Sugar," she introduced. "I found her outside of the bakery when I was still looking for a location. I took finding her there as a sign." The cat agreed with her by meowing, although it sounded more like a squeak. "I'm surprised she likes you."

"Why, does she hate most of your visitors?"

"No, she's terrified of them," she laughed lightly, petting the cat. "She's very jumpy; she spends most of her time hiding in my room or the bathroom. But besides that she's a good kitty." She scratched the cat under the chin, and Howzer found himself smiling at the tiny motorboat in its chest. Howzer looked between Celia and the cat curled against her, setting down his cup as soon as his tea was finished.

"Hey, Celia…" He said quietly, pulling his leg up on the couch so he could face her completely, Sugar immediately leaping off and chasing after a toy mouse.

"Hm?" She looked up to meet his eyes and he cleared his throat.

"The last time I saw you, after graduation… You said you were going to tell me something. But when I told you I was going to military school, you said it didn't matter anymore. What was it?"

"That was six years ago, Howzer," she sighed, leaning her head against the back of the couch. "I can honestly say I have no idea." She frowned a bit, raising her head and keeping her eyes fixed passed his shoulder. "To be honest, I don't even remember telling you that."

"Oh." There was a peaceful silence between them before Howzer cleared his throat again. "Celia?"

"Hm?"

"C-can I… I know I don't have a right, but…" She looked intrigued, and he cleared his throat again. "You remember how we used to cuddle on my parents couch when they were both gone?" She chuckled and scooted away, leaning back on the couch so her head was resting on a pillow on the opposite end, gesturing for him to come closer.

"C'mere, you big dope." He sighed and slid down the length of the couch, his arms against her sides as he rested his head on her chest. He let out a sigh of contentment, closing his eyes as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, one of her hands going to play with his hair.

"...Your boobs are bigger than they used to be."

" _Howzer!_ "

* * *

A/N: And then they FUCKED.

It's more-than-likely to happen in the other chapters, but I wanted to start with something cute and fluffy.

**Edit: I did more research into military recruitment and stuff because that's totally a thing I see Howzer doing in modern!AU's and edited some stuff. I know the details/semantics don't really matter to a lot of people, especially when I'm exploring my thirst, but oh well.

Also, there may be some chapters where I explore the potential for Howzer to have PTSD, because let's be real - in the manga/anime, what everybody has been going through is total grounds for PTSD. But this is an important point:

 **I am not romanticizing PTSD. Do not romanticize PTSD. Romanticizing PTSD is an awful thing to do.**


	2. And Then They FUCKED

"i chickened out of sex ages ago and you haven't brought it up since but now i really want it, but i'm terrible at communication, so let me just strip shirtless/model lingerie for you until you snap" au

* * *

 ** _RATED M, PEOPLE._**

* * *

 **And then they FUCKED**

" _S-stop, stop -!"_

" _What's wrong?"_

" _I-I'm sorry, I just…"_

" _It's okay, we don't have to go any further."_

" _You… don't mind?"_

" _I respect your boundaries, babe."_

Howzer was a wonderful man, especially what it came to keeping his word. But as the weeks went on in his and Celia's relationship, she found herself wanting him to initiate something again, but he didn't. It seemed that he was set on respecting her boundaries.

So how did she tell him she was ready to remove those boundaries _with gusto_?

She found herself debating it while going through a Victoria's Secret catalog on her tablet, an idea popping into her head when she saw a quiz in the corner.

"Hey, Howzer?" She said his name while moving one of her hands to poke his shoulder, one of his hands absentmindedly stroking her leg while he watched TV.

"Yeah, babe?"

"I'm gonna ask you a series of questions, and I want you to answer honestly, okay?"

"Okay," he nodded, his eyes still on his hockey game.

"Red or blue?"

"Blue."

"Green or purple?"

"Green."

"Okay…" she hummed, tapping something on her tablet. "Alright, hiphugger, boy shorts, cheekster, or bikini?"

"Wait, what?" His attention broke from the TV and his head snapped to look at her, his cheeks pink.

"Hiphugger, boy shorts, cheekster, or bikini?" She repeated, holding up her tablet so he could see what each of the underwear types looked like.

"Uh…" The red in his cheeks grew darker as he glanced between the tablet and the edge of her shorts. "B-bi-" he stopped and tried to focus on the picture, his blush covering his entire face as he turned to face the TV again, briskly saying, "cheekster." She hummed and tapped something again.

"Of these types of bra styles, which do you prefer?" She recited, his eyes flickering towards her as she said, "Pushup, plunge, demi-cup, or balconette?"

"I - what's the difference?" He asked, looking genuinely perplexed.

"Pushup bras have padding on the bottom and sides - adds kind of an 'umf' to your chest," she explained, setting her tablet on her knees to use her hands to push up her breasts, his eyes flickering towards her chest but going back to stare determinedly at her face. "Plunge bras have a really deep v-neckline that meets at a really low center. It's like a pushup bra, but with less coverage.

"And then the demi-cup only covers above half of your chest, cutting off at about here -" she used one hand to draw a line across the center of her bust, Howzer's eyes following the movement, "-it's low across the whole top, instead of just the center like the plunge bra. And then the balconette is kind of like a demi-cup, except it's cut straight across - y'know, like a balcony? - it shows a bit more than the others because the _height_ of the cups is shorter and the straps are wider apart."

"And this is for… you?" He said, his hand that wasn't on her leg twitching like he was going to point at her but was afraid of moving too much.

"Of course!" She chirped, smiling at him as his eyes barely darted over her chest and down her stomach to her hips, going back to her eyes resolutely.

"I - which one do… you like the most?" He said slowly, muting the TV.

"Well, the balconette ones are usually prettier," she said, holding up her tablet so he could see a few examples, his eyes constantly flicking between the images on her tablet and her chest.

"Yes, pretty - um -" his voice cracked and he stood up quickly, in spite of her whine of protest. "Babe, I-I should probably be getting back to my place, I - uh - my parents! I told my parents that I would - do the dishes! Tonight! Yeah!" Through his entire nervous spiel he backed towards the door, the flush on his cheeks spreading all the way back to his ears and down his neck as he watched her sit up on her knees and lean on the back of the couch, her arms pushing her breasts together.

"No kiss?" She pouted. He was halfway to putting his shoes on when he froze and stared at her; after a few seconds of tense silence he took three long steps towards her and grabbed her by the back of her neck, pulling her head back so he could cover her mouth with his in a heated kiss. She moaned into his mouth and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as his hands moved down her back. She buried her hands in his hair as one of his drifted below her waist, grabbing her butt.

"Ah, Howzer -" she broke their kiss to gasp and moan loudly. She immediately regretted pulling away, because it seemed that by saying his name a spell was broken. His hands were immediately pulled away from her and he was pulling her hands out of his hair by her wrists, smiling apologetically.

"Celia," he rasped, squeezing his eyes shut as he took a few deep breaths. "I -" he opened his eyes, looking genuinely conflicted as he said, "-I really should go."

"You could stay the night," she suggested breathily, "I would _love_ to have your company."

' _That has got to be an obvious enough double-entendre,'_ she thought, but to her dismay Howzer stepped away with a forced smile.

"I-I can't, Celia," he said, stepping forward to press a swift kiss to her forehead before turning around and leaving the house, not even stopping to tie his shoes. She was too stunned to move for a whole minute after the door closed, the sound of her cat squeaking being what snapped her out of her state of shock.

"Are you kidding me?" She squealed before throwing herself onto the couch with a sexually-frustrated sob, her cat quickly leaping onto her stomach. "Sugar," Celia said as she petted her cat, "this calls for drastic measures." She sighed and set her cat down before standing up and waddling to her bedroom.

"But first," she muttered, opening the bottom drawer of her dresser and pulling out her vibrator and a bottle of lube, "I have other business to take care of." Sugar squeaked as Celia closed the door before she could run in.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

This would be the day.

This would be the day that Celia would finally seduce Howzer.

She inspected her underwear, making sure that the bra and panties fit right, and that her stockings didn't have any pulled threads, her garter belt fit -

\- All in all, she mused as as he looked at herself in the mirror, part of her didn't even care if Howzer saw her in the ensemble.

"Damn, I look good," she muttered, putting her hands on her hips and turning to look over her shoulder in the mirror. "Don't you agree, Sugar?" Her cat squeaked from the bed in response. "Even if I don't get the desired outcome tonight, I think I'll still be cool with all this," she said with a firm nod before going to the closet and pulling out the dress she had bought earlier that week, on the same day as the lingerie set.

"Cute on the outside-" she said as she donned the dress and did the buttons up the front, doing a twirl so that the skirt flared out around her thighs, "-sexy on the inside." She pulled up the skirt of her dress so that the top of her stockings were visible, along her garters and suspenders. "Damn, I feel great!" She declared, doing a few twirls around her room. She gasped with excitement when there was knocking on her door.

"I'm coming!" She called out, the feet of her stockings helping her slide to the front door. She swung the door open, grinning at Howzer as he turned around to face her.

"Hey - _whoa_."

"Is… something wrong?" She said, immediately second-guessing the dress because of the look in his eye. "You said we were meeting your parents for dinner, and since I haven't seen them in so long I wanted to look nice -" he stepped over the threshold and pulled her into his arms.

"You look fantastic, babe," he assured her, pressing a kiss to her hairline.

"Oh, thank goodness - I'm almost ready, I just need to grab my shoes!" She told him, turning around and rushing back to her room. She could hear him chuckling by the door as she seized her pumps and purse. "Okay, I need you to hold still for a second," she told him, putting her hand on his arm and using him to steady herself as she put on her shoes.

Perfect vantage point to see down the front of her dress while she leaned over.

She could _hear_ him swallowing.

"Okay," she chirped, clicking her heels and beaming up at him. "I am officially ready to meet the parents! Again. Oh! I baked a pie for them!"

"You did?" Howzer said, his entire face lighting up as she ducked over to the kitchen counter to grab it.

"Yep, raspberry," she said, holding up the pie so he could see it. He chuckled and smiled at her, letting her lock the door as they left. "Oh, darn!" She exclaimed once they were at his car, "nevermind, it's too late now - don't let me forget, I got something I want to show you when we get back, okay?"

"I can be an airhead, so I make no promises," he told her with a smile.

"I still love you," she told him affectionately, beaming when he took her hand and held it for the drive. She didn't miss the way his eyes moved to her thighs as her dress slid up, revealing the top of the stocking on her left leg; what made it difficult to miss was the way his face lit up red as his eyes snapped to the road, staring resolutely ahead.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"There's my girl!" Raizer cheered as soon as he opened the door, shoving Howzer aside to go and hug Celia. "How have you been, sweetheart? It's been ages!"

"I've been great, Mr. Smith," she told him, smiling at Howzer. Raizer turned to greet his son, stopping short when he saw the pie in his son's hands.

"Is that one of _your_ pies, Celia?" He asked quietly, letting out a cheer when she laughed and nodded. "Is it raspberry or cherry?"

"Raspberry," she said, and he let out another cheer.

"I'll just take that off of your hands, son!" Raizer said gleefully, swiping the pie from Howzer's grasp and gesturing for them to follow him into the house. "Honey, guess what?"

"What is it, dear?" Came a voice from the kitchen.

"Celia brought us a raspberry pie!"

"One of _her_ pies?" Howzer's mom replied from the kitchen. When Raizer confirmed it she let out a delighted noise, hustling out of the kitchen grin at Celia, pulling her into a hug. "Look at how beautiful you've grown!" She declared, gesturing at Celia.

"I didn't overdress, did I?" She asked, blushing a bit.

"Of course not! It's so nice to know that my son is dating a woman who knows how to present herself."

' _I plan on presenting myself to him later tonight,'_ she thought.

"Well, I'm usually a mess at the bakery, so I like to dress up on my day off," she said, smiling brightly.

"And you do a wonderful job of it. Dinner's almost ready, come have a seat on the patio so we can catch up," Raizer said, grabbing Howzer and Celia and dragging them out to the back porch.

"You've renovated since I was last here," she observed, sitting down mindfully; she wanted to tease Howzer, not his parents.

"Done quite a bit, actually," Raizer told her, "plan on doing a few more renovations to the property - I was gonna enlist Howzer to help, but now Rachel guilts me for even considering it."

"It's just a foot, dad, I can still help," Howzer told him, blushing a bit as he glanced at Celia.

"Yeah, but what if that thing breaks?" He asked, pointing at Howzer's prosthetic foot.

"Then I can sign up for one of those prosthetic trials at the hospital and get a new one," he answered his father. Celia chewed on her lip and reached over to take Howzer's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Mr. Smith, maybe you could come take a look at my bakery sometime!" She chipped in, eager to break up the conversation between man and son. "It's hitting it's second birthday, and business has been picking up so much I may need to make more room for another oven!"

"Is that so?" Raizer asked, his eyes twinkling. "I saw that in the paper the other day. Your pies won at the state fair in June, isn't that right?"

"Seventh year in a row," she told him, pumping her fist; she smiled at Howzer when she felt him squeeze her hand, a silent 'thank you'.

"Dinner's ready!"

"That was fast," Celia laughed as Howzer helped her stand.

"I know your pies don't have any true competition, Celia, but I'm sure you remember my wife's turkey casserole is also unparalleled?" Raizer said.

"I don't think I could ever forget!"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"I swear, my dad likes you more than he likes me," Howzer groaned as he walked Celia up the stairs to her apartment, his arm draped over her shoulders.

"I'll tell you a secret if it'll help you feel better," she teased, "I like you a _lot_ more than I like your dad." Thanks to her heels she barely had to stand on her toes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"So, what's this surprise you have for me?" He asked as he followed her into her house, taking off his socks and shoes at the door as usual.

"Follow me," she said, tossing her purse aside and kicking off her shoes to drag him into her bedroom, Sugar barely squeaking at them from her position on the back of the couch. "Okay, so…" she gestured for him to sit on the edge of the bed, facing the door to the closet, "I mostly got this for myself, but there's no reason I couldn't share it."

"Share what?" He chuckled.

"One second," she told him, popping into her closet and closing the door. She shuffled to take off her dress, hanging it up carefully before she took a few deep breaths.

"Babe? Are you okay?" Howzer sounded genuinely concerned; so, with a burst of adrenaline she pushed the closet door open and beamed at him.

"Ta da~" She sang, barely noting the way his jaw dropped and his eyes glazed over before she turned to the standing mirror beside the closet door. "I wanted this style, but I was having some trouble picking out the colors -"

"Babe." She stopped short when she realized how strained Howzer sounded; she turned around and felt her heart sink when she saw that Howzer was covering his eyes. "I'm trying - really hard to respect your boundaries," he said, sounding choked, "but you're making it really difficult for me."

"Howzer, I just walked out of my closet in a lingerie set _intentionally_ with you sitting right there," she said while pointing at the spot where he was, even though his eyes were still covered.

"I…" he lowered his hands and stared resolutely at her face, albeit with red cheeks, "last month, you -"

"Last month, I was still unsure," she said with a shrug. "But, Howzer - sex has changed for me. As a teenager it was about releasing hormones or whatever, but in the past few years it's frightened me because I feel… exposed, and-and vulnerable. It's… kinda scary - well, no, it's very scary.

"But with you -" she took a deep breath and rubbed her arm nervously, looking away from him, "-I _want_ you to see me. I don't feel as scared when it's you - actually, I don't feel scared at all." She could feel her cheeks heating up when he failed to respond.

' _Abort mission,'_ she thought disappointedly, turning around to return to her closet.

"Celia." His voice was rough when he said her name, prompting her to turn back around. She hadn't seen the look in his eyes before as he held his hand towards her, but without hesitation she reached forward and let him take her hand, pulling her closer so her knees bumped against his.

He pressed an affectionate kiss to her palm before his eyes moved slowly up the length of her arm, his eyes tracing over the top of the bra. His hand moved to follow the path his eyes took up her arm, leaving her hand to slide to the back of his neck. She moved her other hand to his shoulder as his moved to her hip, his thumb tracing over the tiny buckles on her garter belt.

She felt her skin heating up at the way Howzer's eyes dragged over the blue lace, his hand dragging down her back slowly as he admired the lines of gold accenting the patterns in the lace, his eyes briefly flickering down to her panties, admiring the matching pattern.

"Can I take this off?" He asked, his voice hoarse as he rubbed her thigh, his thumb tracing the bottom of garter belt.

"Please," she whispered, her breath shaking as his hand slid under the garter belt, pulling it down slowly until it reached her garters; she gasped when he slipped his fingers into the top of her stockings, pushing them down so she would feel his palms drag down her legs. His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her to straddle him so he could kiss her stomach while pushing her stockings off, the dainty buckles clinking as they hit the ground.

"You're perfect," he rasped, his hands caressing the edge of her panties and the back of her bra as she buried her hands in his hair.

"Howzer... " she sighed, feeling his hands dip teasingly into her underwear as he pressed wet, lingering kisses on the tops of her breasts. She squeaked and tensed up when he held her tightly and rolled them over, pushing her onto the bed.

"Is this okay?" He said quickly, his voice strained as he met her eyes.

"Yes," she said, nodding quickly as she muttered, "please, don't stop." She licked her lips as he undid the first few buttons on his shirt before pulling it over his head completely, sliding down the bed so he could start at kissing her calves. "Howzer?"

"Fuck, I love your legs," he said, his hands gliding over her thighs as he kissed the inside of her knee. "Just - the shape of them -" he groaned before sucking a spot of skin on her inner thigh, making the noise again when she tugged on his hair.

"Nn - ah - Howzer -" her breathing was shaky as he barely skimmed his lips over the fabric of her panties before leaving a heated trail of kisses up her stomach, swirling his tongue lightly over the skin under his mouth.

"Can I take it off?" He asked when he finally finished touching the length of her body, kissing her while pulling her hips against his.

"Yes, yes, please -" she gasped, wrapping her arms around him so she could sit up, his hand reaching behind her for the clasp of her bra. The moment was killed after a few seconds when he fumbled with the clasps, making her giggle into his shoulder.

"Do you want some help?" She asked quietly.

"Why are there four?" He muttered frustratedly, making her laugh and reach around herself, undoing the four clasps herself and throwing the bra across the room.

"We can practice later," she told him, pulling him back down on top of her by the back of his neck.

"I like the sound of that," he responded before kissing her, taking her breasts in his hands and moaning shakily at the noise she made. "God, the way it looked on you -"

"I got another set that's similar," she told him, laughing when he sat up to look at her with a delighted expression. "The other one is green with silver."

"I cannot wait to see that one," he murmured before returning to lavish her neck and chest with kisses, his hands paying special attention to her breasts. When he went back to kiss her again she buried her hands in his hair with a sigh, relishing the feel of his skin against hers. She became so wrapped up in his kisses, she broke their kiss to gasp with surprise when she felt his fingers push into her, the noise quickly becoming a moan as she pressed herself against him.

"Is this okay?" He asked, his fingers curling inside of her.

"Don't you _dare_ stop."

"I'll take that as a yes," he chuckled, kissing her neck as his fingers moved inside of her. "Fuck, Celia, you're so _wet_."

"I want you - please, Howzer -" she panted, her eyes glazed as she reached between them for his pants, her hands shaking as she fumbled to undo the button and zipper. "Shut up," she muttered when he chuckled, his hand pulling out of her when she sat up to push his pants and underwear down his hips.

He grunted with surprise when her hands went to his chest and she flipped him onto his back, giving him the space to kick his pants off. She leaned over to grab something from the bedside table, his eyes following the movement; he laughed again when he saw what she was reaching for.

"Do you not want lube?" She asked, her facial expression a mix between confused and offended.

"You hide it behind the lamp?" He asked; her expression became fully offended.

"... Yes…" she said slowly, holding the bottle to her chest as she looked away.

"You were planning this?" He asked, sitting up while sliding his hands up her thighs.

"What was your first clue?" She asked, staring into his eyes and gasping softly when the head of his cock slipped between her swollen lips, rubbing over her clit. "You didn't contract any diseases in the last six years -"

"-No."

"-Are you sure? Because I have condoms -"

"You're more worried about diseases that pregnancy?" He asked, his forehead falling against her shoulder as he chuckled.

"Yes." He laughed and kissed her deeply, slipping the bottle of lube from her hands as he pushed her onto her back.

"I'm certain," he whispered against her lips.

"Then let's do this thing!" She exclaimed before laughing, pulling him into a kiss as he prepared himself, pressing the head of his cock against her pussy and hesitating.

"We can still stop -"

"Howzer, I _swear to god_ -" She began to yell, but was immediately interrupted by a loud moan as Howzer pushed himself inside of her slowly. She arched against him, dragging her hands down his back and moaning at the slide of his cock and the feeling of the muscles in his back tensing under her hands.

It didn't take long before he was moving faster, grunting with each hard thrust that shook Celia's whole body, her legs wrapping around his waist so her heels were digging into his lower back, keeping him close. She cried out when one of his hands moved between them, his thumb rubbing vigorously over her clit; the added stimulation to the heat coiling in her lower belly had her tensing up, her moans rising in pitch until her spine arched and her moan reached a crescendo, long and drawn out as she fell limp in Howzer's arms, her moans turning soft and breathy.

Her breathing hitched when Howzer pulled out, grunting as he took his cock in his hand and worked it over a few times, moaning as he came onto her stomach. Without much thought he collapsed on top of her, panting into her shoulder for a few moments before he sat up weakly to kiss her.

"That was a lot better than when we were in high school," he muttered.

"I don't know about you," she panted, "but I've had a lot more time to masturbate and think of what I like." He laughed, his forehead dropping against her shoulder as he did.

"And what did you like?" He asked, kissing her shoulder.

"That thing you did to my clit was really nice." He hummed and pressed a kiss to her neck as she shifted under him. "But now I feel gross."

"Is it the lube or the cum?" He muttered, making her laugh again.

"Both."

"You know what's a really great fix for that?"

"Hm?"

"A shower."

"I like the way you think."

* * *

A/N: About 90% of this is how my first time went. Including the part about hiding the lube behind the lamp.

However, I wisely decided to _not_ include the part about forgetting to close the door completely so the cat could sneak in and jump on the bed during the afterglow, effectively scaring the shit out of both of us.

I'm starting to wonder why I included the cat in the first place; she isn't nearly as much of a little shit in the story as she is in real life.


	3. Moving

"Prompt: A helps B move into their new place while subtly suggesting that they'd like to move in, too"

* * *

 **Moving**

"I need to know you're serious about this, Howzer," Celia informed him, completely serious as they drove.

"I mean, you're one of the first people I wanted to see when I came home," he answered, frowning as they reached a storage center. "What are we doing here?"

"You remember how you pointed out that my house is 'awfully bare'?" She said when she parked in front of one unit.

"Yeah…?"

"That's because I've lived there for hardly two months," she told him flatly.

"Wait, are you serious?" He gawked at her as she got out of her car. "You opened your bakery two years ago, and signed a mortgage on a house that recently? Why not sooner?"

"Fear, mostly," she admitted. "But then mom and dad said they wanted to downsize and didn't leave me much choice."

"So… why did you bring me here while being all cryptic about our relationship?" He asked, following her as she took out a key from her pocket.

"You remember how cluttered my and Fen's rooms were," she scoffed, unlocking a storage unit and turning the handle on the bottom so the door could slide up with the loud sound of squeaking metal.

"Yeah, so - _holy shit_."

"Yeah," she said, leaning against the said of the storage unit as Howzer stepped inside, gaping at all of the boxes and a few items of furniture. "That side is all of Fen's stuff," she said, gesturing to the right, and gesturing towards the marginally-less cluttered side of the unit saying, "and that side is all of mine. Nico got to keep his stuff because he's still living with mom and dad."

"Why haven't you moved this stuff in yet?" He asked, standing in the middle and doing a circle.

"Didn't have time before mom and dad planned their sale-date. Fen and I barely had time to move all of our stuff in here - of course, after signing the mortgage papers my mom and dad made time to help me with the big stuff, but that left the small stuff in here."

"This is small?" He said, gesturing towards a mattress that was wrapped in plastic, leaning against the wall of the unit.

"Yeah, that's my old mattress," she said, "it's gonna go in the second bedroom."

"What's going on the second floor? In that big-ass room that's still completely empty?"

"To be determined."

"And what about all of that?" He demanded, gesturing towards the workout equipment in the back of the unit.

"Oh, yeah, that's going in the smaller room - gonna make it into a gym. But I am not looking forward to moving that stuff." She stepped forward and cheerfully clapped his shoulder, "But that's what you're here for!"

"Wait - this is what you meant about 'proving how serious' I am?" He asked, gesturing at the boxes and furniture items around them. "You want me to help you finish moving into your house?"

"Yes." They stared at each other for a moment before she looked down, pointing at his foot, "Unless you want to pull the handicap-card."

"You keep forgetting that my foot is fake."

"Yes." They stared at each other for a moment again before Howzer lowered his gaze, his lips set in a thin line. "I'm sorry, Howzer, I shouldn't have brought you out here -"

"-Thank you."

"Huh?" She looked up again to see him rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ever since I came home, everybody has been treating me like glass," he said reluctantly. "The older guys in the recruiter's office kind of side-eye my leg, like they think I did it on purpose to get out of active duty. Especially because it's just the foot and not the whole leg, y'know?

"And you remember the other day when we went to my parent's house for dinner? My dad used to have me doing all kinds of stuff around the property, but has been asking so little of me since I came home. My mom keeps acting like she doesn't know what to do with me, and sometimes I catch her looking at my leg.

"I think they both feel like I wasted nine and a half years of my life."

"You told me that you lost your foot pulling three guys out of flaming wreckage," she said quietly, "I don't think that's a waste." He smiled at her and raised one of his hands to cup her cheek, tilting her head back so he could look into her eyes.

"Six years ago you said it was a waste," he pointed out.

"Six years ago I was eighteen and broken-hearted because my first love told me in very specific terms that he hated our hometown and told me he was going to leave without looking back," she answered. "But I am an adult now, making adult decisions. Mostly. I'm doing my best."

"That's all we can do, babe," he chuckled, pulling her into a hug. After a moment of comfortable silence he pulled away with a sigh, asking her, "alright, where do we start?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

With Howzer's help, Celia had her side of the storage unit completely cleared out and unpacked in two weeks. There was a lot of flirting involved, mostly with Howzer intentionally flexing his biceps more than necessary. The excess of movement scared Sugar into one of the empty rooms more often than not, with her huddling on Howzer's lap in the evening when they called it a day.

But after that second week Celia began to notice something.

It started when she was vacuuming the living room and found Howzer's Playstation, which prompted her to go through her movies and find his games mixed in. She thought it was strange, but shrugged and moved on.

She expected his toothbrush, a staple next to her sink since he spent the night as least twice a week. But then she was in the middle of her shower and accidentally grabbed a bottle of shampoo that definitely was not hers, which prompted her to look at her shower caddy and wonder how she didn't notice the additional bottles of Old Spice products.

Then she found more towels in her linen closet, along with unfamiliar sheets.

And then one day she was going through her closet for something and was genuinely puzzled at how much of one side of the closet was his clothes, and when she went through the wardrobe for her underwear she found that the drawer above it had just as much of his underwear and socks as the one below it had hers.

It took a total of two weeks for her to stand in the center of her bedroom, scratching her head before walking out into the living room and watching him play one of his games for a minute or two.

"Hey, Howzer?" She called out. The game immediately paused and Howzer leaned back to smile at her.

"Yeah, babe?" At his acknowledgement she walked over and leaned over the back of the couch to kiss his forehead.

"Thanks for doing the laundry for me," she told him.

"I work nine-to-five, you were eight-to-seven, I figured it was the least I could do." She hummed as he started the game again, jumping over the back of the couch and snuggle beside him.

"Remember when we were thirteen and I kicked your ass at Mario Party?" She said to him quietly. The game immediately paused again and he leaned back to stare at her.

"But I won at Mario Kart," he said after a beat of silence.

"It's a shame you don't have your N64 anymore -" she began to say, nearly falling over when he shot to his feet.

"Wait right there," he said, his bare feet thumping on the floor as he ran down the hall.

"You have it?" She laughed, sitting up on her knees as he came back around the corner, a box in his arms. "Where were you keeping that?"

"Under the bed," he said casually, opening it on the coffee table and pulling out his N64, a few games clattering out of the box with it. She jumped forward to inspect the games, laughing loudly at them.

"The nineties are biting me in the ass right now," she said while looking through the games. "How did your parents not sell this while you were gone?"

"You remember that hidden panel in the back of my closet?"

"You kept all of this stuff back there?" She exclaimed gleefully, her excitement turning to suspicion as she paused to look at him. "When did you bring it here?"

"Last Saturday," he said while untangling the cords around the classic console.

"But you haven't been playing any of the games. Why bring it here?" He finally noticed the tone of her voice and froze, turning around slowly to see her sitting up with her arms crossed.

"Um…" he said slowly, his eyes darting around.

"I've noticed some things since you've started to do my laundry, too," she said, "my closet used to be pretty empty, because I didn't have that much. But the other side if it has started to fill up. In fact, there's a lot of stuff appearing in my house that I _know_ wasn't in the storage unit." She stood up and flopped onto the couch so she could cross one leg over the other.

"It's almost like someone has been sneaking in their own stuff with mine."

"Well, uh…" Howzer was visibly struggling for something to say.

"A challenge!" Celia declared, making him jump. "Mario Kart, three laps on Rainbow Road."

"Are you serious?" He groaned.

"If I win, you have to order Domino's with extra cheese and a side of breadsticks," she declared, pointing at herself.

"And what if I win?" He asked, slowly continuing to unravel the cords while eyeing her suspiciously.

"Then you get to stop sneaking your stuff in and just move in altogether," she said, casually reaching into the box to pull out the controllers. He gaped at her and she leaned back while unravelling the cords, smiling knowingly.

"I'll take that deal!" He declared excitedly, making her laugh. "You know that if it's Rainbow Road I'm just going to run you off of the side, right?"

"Yeah, I know - that was your strategy when we were kids."

"But now we're adults," he said, winking at her as he plugged in the controllers, "making adult decisions."

"Like playing Mario Kart."

"Mostly."

* * *

A/N: I know Howzer would have an N64. In my heart of hearts, I know. And I know that he would fight dirty in Mario Kart.


	4. Spank Me

'Prompt: B smacks A's butt as a joke, A realizes they like it'

* * *

 _ **RATED M**_

* * *

 **Spank Me**

Celia wasn't sure what Howzer had been talking about as they reentered the house, all she knew is that her response had him blushing.

"Tease," he scoffed, lightly smacking her butt as she went to pull her keys out of her purse. She jolted visibly at the touch, gasping softly as her keys fell from her grasp and clattered to the ground. "S-sorry, babe - are you okay?" He asked, moving to pick them up for her.

"I'm fine," she squeaked, her eyes wide and her cheeks red.

' _Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit -'_ ran through her head on repeat when she realized that she probably had A Thing™ for what he had just done. But judging by the look of concern on his face that she had glimpsed he had the opposite perception of her reaction.

Which simply would _not_ do.

She had long since figured out that Howzer was a bit of an airhead and didn't really notice anything unless it was thrown in his face, so she spent the rest of the afternoon plotting how to best tell him, while also setting herself up for her favorite outcome.

She started by changing into her pajamas - one of his shirts and a pair of short-shorts - after dinner and approaching him on the couch, sliding into his lap and pulling him into a kiss.

"Isn't this yesterday's game?" She said when they parted, glancing at the TV.

"Yeah, and the Patriots lose." She hummed and snuggled against him, sighing when she felt his hand rubbing her thigh. She squeaked and giggled when his hand slipped under the hem of her shorts and squeezed her butt.

"Howzer?" She said his name breathily, dragging her finger down his chest..

"Yeah?"

"You know how I like it when you grab my butt?"

"Yeah?" He murmured, a lot slower while smirking at her.

"Can you try spanking me?"

"Huh?" His face fell flat, the expression he made when his brain spontaneously stopped working.

"Spank me?" She asked quietly, clenching the fabric of his shirt in her fists, looking up at him with the begging look she knew he loved.

"Well!" He declared, swinging her into his arms as he stood up quickly, "When you ask so _politely_ -" she squealed when he slung her over his shoulder in a fireman-carry while walking with purpose towards the bedroom.

The sudden movement and his enthusiasm made her laugh; which promptly ceased when his hand came down on her ass. The swiftness of his hand, combined with the force and surprise, made her gasp loudly and cry out in the exact same way as when Howzer was fucking her hard.

"Fuck, Celia," she heard him growl before she was promptly thrown onto the bed, laughing as she bounced on the mattress. "Clothes off, ass up," he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" She declared, sitting up on her knees and pulling his shirt over her head.

"I am so glad I didn't have a thing for that when I was in command," he muttered dragging his hands down his face as she wiggled her hips to take off her shorts. She laughed and threw her shorts at him, winking as she turned over on her hands and knees. She gasped softly when she felt his rough palm rub her ass, moaning when he squeezed it.

"Ah!" She cried out when his hand came down on her ass with a loud 'smack', his palm smoothing over where his hand had landed.

"Is this okay?"

"Do that again," she demanded. He chuckled and his hand came down on the other cheek, making her cry out again. "Maybe aim for the squishy part, where you usually grab me?" She suggested, "I don't like it when your hand lands on my thigh."

"Didn't think I'd have to perform calculus to spank you right," he muttered, making her laugh.

"Is it really calcu - ah!" She was interrupted by another smack on the ass.

"Talk to me like that and you'll be spanked again," he whispered hotly in her ear.

"It's. Not. Calculus - ah!" She moaned when he palmed her ass after a hard spank, gasping when his fingers slipped into her pussy.

"You know what I want?" He murmured. "I want you to model those stockings for me, with the garters and everything - and those heels. But nothing else." He pulled his fingers out of her to smack her ass again; she moaned his name, her arms visibly shaking. "That's the kind of thing bad girls do. So that way, I can bend you over any surface I want -" his hand landed on her ass again and she sobbed.

"Fuck, Howzer -"

"And then I'm gonna fuck you, wherever I spank you," he murmured before biting the shell of her ear. "Ever since I've moved in, it's a thing I've wanted to do -" he spanked her again before pushing his fingers inside of her once more, "- I wanna fuck you on every surface in this house, so every day when you come home from work or if you have friends over, you can't look at anything with thinking of me and my hands on your ass or my cock inside of you -"

He was interrupted by Celia throwing her head back with a scream that tapered off into a moan, her hands sliding forward so her face landed in her pillow, grinding her hips back onto his stilled hand. He sat up in shock while Celia's shoulders heaved as she panted heavily into her pillow, a small moan leaving her mouth with every exhale.

"Celia?" He said slowly when her panting subsided and she made small noises of discomfort while sliding her legs back so she was planted face-down on the bed.

"Hm?" She made a small noise that was muffled by her pillow.

"Did I just make you cum from spanking and dirty talk?" She made a small whining noise; Howzer let out a whoop of victory and threw himself onto her, pulling her into a hug. "I should make a book of achievements," he said into her ear after pulling her against him so he could kiss her shoulder.

"Or take notes," she told him breathlessly, laughing as he hugged her. "God, I love you," she muttered, wiggling so she could turn around in his arms and reciprocate his hug, scratching his head.

"I love you, too," he sighed happily while his hands caressed her stinging ass cheeks.

"Are you talking to me or my ass?"

"Both."

* * *

A/N: My fantasy is that once Howzer gets around being a prude he's 100% a dork and show me a single thing from the show or manga that proves me otherwise.


	5. Surf's Up

aaaayyyy so i was on tumblr and saw the most GLORIOUS of posts, which served as the inspiration for this crap that i was into posting by by lickitysplit. the artwork i made into the cover.

also i want to give FULL CREDIT to the inspiration for this work: spoilerkingjuliane on tumblr. I would link you to her tumblr page, but ffn is a piece of shit that way and won't let me do it.

quick warning, this one has a fair bit of drama with the slightest pinch of angst. which i am terrible at, so it is short-lived.

* * *

 **Surf's Up**

"Today's the day."

"Is it?" Celia mused, the sand shifting under her arms as she sat up on her palms. She looked to her friend beside her with a small smile. "I thought yesterday was the day? And the day before that?"

"Well, it wasn't," Howzer griped, his dreamy smile quickly turning into a glowering look.

"Where's Griamore and Gilthunder?" Celia asked.

"Gil is in the shop, Griamore's at the gym. Why?" He asked, looking suspicious.

"Because every day they want me to make a bet on whether or not you actually go through with it," she laughed, throwing her head back. He scowled and looked back at the sea. "Howzer, are you sure you don't want my help? I'm friends with her," she offered.

"No, I have to do this myself!" He declared, pumping his fists.

"Well, get up and do it!" She laughed, kicking up sand as she rose to her feet. She offered him her hand and helped him stand with ease before turning around and lifting her surfboard out of the sand. "I'm gonna hit a few waves while you do that."

"Yeah, sure…" he sounded far off and she sighed.

"Howzer," she said, turning to face him with her surfboard under her arm, "I -" he turned his gaze to her and she faltered for a moment; the sun was setting behind her, and her heart ached at the sight of the sun casting golden streaks in his blonde hair and creating spots of fire in his dark purple eyes.

She always felt this way she looked at him; the ache in her heart and longing to touch him that had persisted for years, ever since they were teenagers. But just as there was longing, there was also knowing that she wasn't the one he wanted, and to protect their friendship he could never know that he was the one she wanted.

"What's wrong?" He asked, looking concerned.

She forced a smile when his hand rested on her shoulder. "It's nothing, bro," she said, reminding herself of their relationship and where they stood. "I believe in you," she declared, smoothing her face into comical seriousness.

His concern turned into a flat look. "Ha ha, very funny."

"I mean it, Howzer," she told him gently; his expression eased again. "You're a great guy. Diane's lucky."

"You… you think so?" He smiled weakly, his cheeks turning pink as he scratched his cheek. "Y'know, if I can ask Diane out, maybe we should double-date! Honestly, if she said yes I'd need you around to help me relax, anyways," he laughed nervously.

"'Double-date'?" She repeated, looking at him like he had grown a second head. "Who the hell would I go with?"

"Gustaf?" He suggested, nodding in the direction of the locally-owned ice cream shop.

Celia jerked back almost violently, staring at him in shock. "That arrogant jackass?" She exclaimed, glaring at him. "Howzer, he's a dick."

"Hey, he seems cool to me!" Howzer objected, looking offended on Gustaf's behalf.

"Howzer, we're not going to go into this," she huffed, massaging the bridge of her nose with her free hand. "Just… go try to ask Diane out. Again."

"I…" he suddenly looked nervous, and she groaned while rolling her eyes.

"Howzer, bro. Broski. Bro-rannosoaurus rex. A-bro-ham Lincoln," she said, curling her fingers into a fist and lightly punching his arm after cycling through the variations of 'bro' she could think of to make him laugh. "Just go for it. Take a deep breath, and use your word-vomit if you have to - don't… actually vomit."

Her joke seemed to ease his nerves. "Hug for luck?" He asked, opening his arms as he grinned.

She laughed and dropped her surfboard before stepping forward and hugging him tightly. ' _I hope she says yes, if only to see you happy,'_ she thought as they stepped apart.

"Now, go!" She laughed, swatting his arm, "I bet her shift ends soon!"

"Ah, shoot, you're right!" He jumped and turned around to run in the opposite direction, towards one of the most popular bars on the beach. "If it goes well I'll buy you a milkshake!" He called out.

' _And if it goes bad?'_ She thought, smiling and waving at him as he took off. She sighed and picked up her surfboard again before heading out to the water.

-X-

The sun was starting to go down when Celia finally paddled back to shore, surprised to see Howzer sitting on her beach towel.

"Shouldn't you be on a date right now?" She teased as she approached him, the sand sticking to her wet feet and legs, "Or did you lose your nerve again?" She stopped in front of him, surprised when he merely lowered his head. "Howzer?"

"She has a boyfriend."

Some kids could be heard laughing in the distance, along with the hum of the street lamps turning on and the crashing of the waves behind her.

"Oh," she mumbled, digging her surfboard into the ground and sitting down on her towel across from him.

"Y'know that skateboarding punk?" He asked, sounding bitter.

"Which one?"

"The one with red hair - his dad owns the flower shop on the same street as your dad's bakery," he explained, averting his eyes.

Her eyes lit up with understanding and she smiled. "Harlequin? Yeah, he's a sweetheart. Why?"

Howzer looked offended. "Well, that 'sweetheart' is Diane's boyfriend," he said, his words dripping with disdain. "Apparently, they've been best friends since they were toddlers, and have been dating since they graduated from high school."

"Oh." After a beat of silence she said, "Ouch."

"Yeah," he scoffed. There was another prolonged silence between them before he continued, unprompted, "I just thought he liked her. I would see him looking at her all the time with this dopey, lovestruck grin -"

"The same way you look at her?" Celia interrupted.

After a moment he nodded, and then continued in a quieter voice, "Part of me wants to think that I just missed my chance or something, but… I _never_ had one. I think that's what hurts the most."

"I'm -" Celia hesitated while chewing on her lip - chapped from the sun and seawater - before reaching forward and resting her hand on his wrist, "I know how you feel."

"You know how I feel?" He chuckled, looking up at her with a wry smile. "Celia, you could land any guy on this beach if you wanted to."

"Not the one I want," she mumbled.

"Why not?" He sounded surprised.

"Because he likes someone else," she shrugged, and his surprised turned into disbelief.

"How come this is the first time I've heard of this?" He asked, his usual grin falling into place.

"Because if I told you then everyone in town would know by the end of the day," she deadpanned.

His smile turned sheepish and he scratched his cheek. "Yeah, good point," he said. They sat in silence for a bit longer; they could hear parents calling out to their children in the distance as the sun continued to lower. "Have you considered telling him anyways?" He murmured, his voice nearly carried away by the sound of the crashing waves.

' _Now's your chance, dumbass! Take it!'_ Her inner voice was screaming at her. She opened her mouth and raised her eyes, but froze as soon as she met his gaze.

"I… I can't," she finally choked; she didn't know if she was talking to Howzer or herself.

"Why not?" Howzer asked, tilting his head to the side as he frowned.

"Because I'm… I'm not the one he wants," she said, her voice shaking as a heavy weight settled in her chest. "And he's…" she lowered her eyes to look at her hands in her lap; she had a bracelet made of woven leather cords, each cord having multicolored beads. She played with it as she said, "He's a very kind person. If I told him, he… he would feel guilty for not being able to return my feelings.

"And I hate the idea of making him feel that way."

Howzer watched her for a few seconds, his expression one of sympathy. "Celia," he finally spoke up, "you're too selfless."

"No, I'm not," she laughed, her voice shaking, "I'm selfish."

"How are you selfish? You don't want to tell this guy your feelings because of how it might make _him_ feel!" Howzer exclaimed, waving his arm in a random direction.

"I'd rather have part of him than nothing at all," she finally said, looking up to meet his gaze; she could feel her eyes burning. His expression as he stared at her was one of sadness, and he watched her as she stood up. "I need to get home soon," she whispered, "can you get off of my towel, please?"

"Y-yeah… sure," he said, moving out of the way. He hooked his thumbs in his pockets as he watched her fold up her towel and tuck it in her duffel bag. "Whoever this guy is… I bet he has bad taste," he said, looking away from her while scratching his cheek, "if he likes someone besides you."

Celia couldn't help but laugh. "No, that's not it!" She told him as he began to walk back towards the parking lot with her. "He has _excellent_ taste. The girl he likes is… she's wonderful. That's part of the other reason why I can't tell him. I…" she hesitated before whispering, "I can't compete."

"Celia, you are one of the nicest, coolest girls in town," he said, dropping his hand on her shoulder, "I think you're just being too hard on yourself." She made a soft, noncommittal noise as they came upon her truck. "Celia?" He said her name softly as she threw her duffel bag and surfboard in the bed of the truck.

"Yeah?" She mumbled, looking up at him.

He was staring down at her with an unreadable look on his face. "When I asked Diane out… she got mad."

"Why? Because you didn't bother to find out if she had a boyfriend first or not?" She teased, forcing a smile; she had done it so many times it looked natural.

"No, actually…" he rubbed the back of his neck nervously while his cheeks started to turn pink, illuminated by the light of the streetlamps overhead. "She got mad because she thought I was… she thought I was cheating on… you," he said, very slowly, and without looking at her.

Celia's breathing caught in her chest, and she considered it a small miracle that he wasn't looking at her. "Is that so?" She asked, trying to keep her tone light and her fake smile in place as she crossed her ankles and leaned against the side of her truck.

"Yeah," he chuckled nervously, "apparently she thought we were dating. She said that a _lot_ of people thought we were dating."

"Oh," she mumbled, her heart racing.

There was a tense silence between them until his hand stilled before pulling away from his neck as his eyes turned to look at her. "Celia…" he murmured, his hand hovering by his shoulder and his face still turned away from her.

When he said nothing else she hummed and said, "Yes?"

He looked contemplative for a moment before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Am I the guy you like?" He asked in a rush, his cheeks turning red as his eyes snapped open to stare intently into hers.

"I -" her voice cracked and she gaped at him in shock, too stunned by his words to rebuild her teasing, composed facade.

' _Tell him now, you idiot!'_ Her inner voice was screaming at her; she closed her eyes and lowered her head before nodding weakly.

"Oh…" He mumbled, and the confusion in his voice was heartbreaking. "I… wow, I - I did not see that coming," he chuckled. She opened one eye to see him looking uncomfortable. "I… I understand why you didn't want to tell me," he mumbled, scratching his cheek. Any words she wanted to speak were caught in her throat; her eyes burned when he took a small step back, his sandals scuffing on the pavement. "I'm gonna need some time to process this," he said. "I'll… talk to you later." He turned around and walked away, his hands shoved into his pockets and his head hanging low.

It felt like a hand had reached into her chest and was squeezing her heart, holding it still so every beat was painful. The ache seemed to spread through her and settle on her shoulders, feeling like the world as she shuffled herself into the driver's seat of her truck. She didn't allow herself to cry until she had closed the door, dropping her forehead against the steering wheel as her shoulders were wracked with sobs.

X-O-X

Senti sat on the edge of her bed, staring at Celia in shock as she curled up on her bed on the opposite side of the room.

"You can't be serious," she deadpanned, "he said _that_?" When Celia nodded her eyes flashed with anger. "I don't know why you've liked him all this time, anyways," she scoffed, rolling her eyes, "he's been dense since you were kids."

"Yeah," Celia huffed with a small smile.

"What does Ana say?" Senti asked, glancing at Celia's cell phone.

Celia responded by turning her phone on and holding it up so her sister could see the wall of text. "Same thing as you," she summarized, tossing the phone onto the spot beside her. "She said she'll call me when she gets home."

"Celia, I… I'm really sorry," she murmured, standing up and crossing the room, her prosthetic leg scuffing the bedroom carpet, to sit down beside her sister so she could hug her tightly.

"I-I'm -" Celia was about to insist that she was fine, but as soon as her sister's arms were around her she broke down in another wave of tears.

"What's going on?" They looked up to see their younger brother poking his head it, worry etched onto his face when he saw his eldest sister crying. "Ceelie? What's wrong?"

"Howzer found out her feelings and rejected her," Senti deadpanned.

Hearing her sister's bluntness made another crack form in her heart. She wanted to object and say, ' _He only said he needed to think about it!'_ But the more she thought about it the more it dawned on her that Senti was right - it _had_ been a rejection. The realization brought another wave of tears.

Nico rushed into the room and sat down on the other side of her, so she wound up sandwiched between her younger siblings in a tight hug. "I've never liked him," Nico muttered.

"Nico, you love Howzer," Celia pointed out with a weak, watery laugh.

"Well, not anymore," he huffed, giving her a tight squeeze.

At that moment a cheery pop tune erupted from her phone behind her. "That's Ana," she muttered, picking it up and answering it. "Hey, Ana -"

" _I would demand that you give me details but you must clearly be heartbroken, so instead I will tell you a funny story from my day in hopes that it will distract you,"_ her best friend interrupted in a rush. " _Some rando came in to flirt with me and I got him to buy a ton of my mom's stuff."_

"Gotta love that overpriced beach jewelry," Nico spoke aloud.

" _Tell your brat of a brother to shut his whore mouth!"_ Ana yelled on the other end of the line, making the three siblings laugh as she ranted, " _My mother's jewelry is all handmade, in traditional north African style -!"_

"We know, Ana, we know," Celia laughed, her best friend's energy already making her laugh. "He's just being a brat, as you said."

" _Fine,"_ she huffed, " _either way, he wound up calling me 'exotic', and as soon as he did my dad came storming out of the back room while yelling at him in Arabic."_

"So your dad chased away another tourist for hitting on you?" Senti chipped in, dropping her chin on her sister's shoulder.

" _No, he chased away a guy for flirting with me_ and _being racist,"_ she explained with a laugh. Celia wound up laughing some more, her tears forgotten for a time.

It wasn't until later that evening, when she could hear her sister's even breathing, that she allowed herself to cry again.

' _Why did he have to ask?'_ She thought as she curled tighter around her pillow, ' _I had just told him that I'd rather have part of him that none of him - so why did he have to ask?'_

X-O-X

Celia wanted to surf, allowing her sadness and frustration to be washed away by the ocean. But she was terrified of the possibility of seeing Howzer; he surfed as much as she did, and usually on the same section of beach. She could drive further down to a different part of the beach, but she had grown attached to their - _that_ \- stretch.

Instead, she took more shifts in her father's bakery, giving her younger siblings more time off. Usually it was more evenly spaced between the three of them, but in her desperation to avoid the source of her heartbreak she insisted that she take a few hours from her siblings; the bakery was going to be hers one day, anyways.

A week passed when a familiar face framed by a pair of bouncing brown pigtails hopped into her father's bakery with a bright smile.

"Hey, Diane!" Celia greeted as her friend skipped towards the glass display case. "The usual?"

"Hey, Celia! Sure, that sounds great." As Celia went to pull a small box out Diane said, "Also, I wanted to check on you."

"Check… on me?" She frowned, setting the box down on top of the display case while sliding it open.

"Yeah! You haven't been out in a few days, people are starting to get worried."

"People," she repeated with a wry smile. Diane hummed and nodded. "I… I've been taking more shifts."

"Yeah, but why?" Diane whined. "You're one of the best surfers, people have wanted to see you!"

Celia laughed and shook her head. "It's for Sen and Nico," she lied easily as she placed a cupcake in the box and closed it, "they're both taking those online classes, I've wanted to give them more time to study and stuff."

Diane made a small noise, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "Howzer asked me out last week," she said.

"I know," she muttered, her hands lingering on the box, "I've been telling him to."

"What?" Diane exclaimed, making Celia lean back with a wince. "But _why_?"

"Because he's had a crush on you for over a year now, and neither of us knew you already had a boyfriend," she explained with a shrug. "Besides, he's my -" she hesitated, her throat turning thick as she said, "he was my best friend."

"Was?" She muttered, tilting her head to the side.

"I tried to comfort him by telling him that I knew how he felt, because I had a crush on someone who liked someone else," she explained, her eyes burning as she carefully carried the box to the register, Diane following her. "He asked me if it was him and I told him the truth."

Diane looked sympathetic as she guessed, "And he didn't react well?"

"He said he wasn't expecting it -" Diane scoffed, "-and that he needed some time to think it over. And then he walked away. I…" Celia drifted off and swallowed thickly before telling her, "I haven't heard from him since."

"Oh," she murmured as she pulled out her wallet.

"That'll be three-thirty-two," she said, looking at Diane's wallet as she opened it. "I've always been meaning to tell you that that's a cute wallet," she said, smiling at her as she accepted her cash.

"Oh, thanks!" Diane exclaimed, holding it up with a happy smile and pleased blush on her face. "My boyfriend made it for me!"

"Really? That's so cool, I didn't know Harlequin could do that," she said as she offered Diane her change.

Diane looked surprised, asking, "How did you -?"

"Howzer," she responded, her lips pressed in a grim line.

Diane put her change in her wallet before snapping it shut. She hesitated for a moment, looking nervous before she asked, "You aren't… mad at me?"

"Of course not!" Celia exclaimed before assuring her friend, "Diane, none of this is your fault."

She hesitated again. "Are you going to be okay?" She murmured, reaching across the counter to put her hands on top of Celia's.

"Once I get over wasting ten years of my life, I'll be right as rain," she deadpanned.

She looked astonished. "That long -?"

"Ever since he rescued me from those bullies," she chuckled, but with more bitterness than mirth. "He was my hero. And since then he became one of my closest friends - y'know, whenever we walked the beach together, sometimes I daydreamed of us holding hands," she confessed quietly, lacing her fingers together. The inside of the bakery was quiet until Celia took a deep breath. "Anyways, I'm going to… clean up in here. You'd best get going, I'm sure you have plans."

Diane stared at her for a moment before saying, "I never noticed before."

"Noticed what?" Celia asked, tilting her head to the smile.

"Your smile looks so genuine - I never noticed that it doesn't reach your eyes," she murmured; the statement made Celia's fake smile fall. "But you're right, I'd best get going. I-" she paused before turning around, her small box held to her chest in one hand. "I'm really sorry, Celia."

"Don't apologize for something that isn't your fault," Celia assured her, waving as her friend left the bakery. As soon as she was out of sight she ducked around the wall behind the counter, where the "break table" - as her siblings called it - was and covered her face with her hands to furiously wipe away any stray tears that slipped down her cheeks.

The fact was, she wanted to resent Diane; resent her for being perfect to Howzer, for being a genuinely wonderful person. But she couldn't.

She only resented herself, for falling short.

X-O-X

"Go."

Celia looked up from the book in front of her to see her sister standing at the opposite side of the break table, glaring at her.

"Wha -?"

"It's been two weeks," Senti declared, leaning on the table with one hand and pointing at Celia with the other. "I can tell that you miss surfing, I can see the itch in your eyes."

"But Sen -"

"No buts!" Her sister exclaimed with a slicing gesture. "Go change, get your surfboard, and _go_! If you don't look wet and smell like saltwater when you come home I will smack you!" She walked around the table and pulled Celia to her feet, ushering her towards the stairs leading up into their family's apartment.

Celia did as her younger sibling demanded, anxiety building in her stomach as she changed into her bathing suit, pulling her surfsuit on over it. Her anxiety continued building as she drove to the parking lot in front of her usual stretch of beach, all of her nerves leaving in a rush when she didn't see Howzer's car anywhere.

She barely took the time to lay out her towel before dropping her duffel bag, taking off in a sprint towards the water. A sigh of relief bubbled into laughter when she finally hit the water, swinging her leg over her board and paddling away from the shore.

"Hey, Celia!" One boy called over as she paddled out. "Haven't seen you in ages!"

"It's been two weeks, Arden," she told him, punching his arm when she grew close.

"I heard Howzer dumped you," he said, grinning at her.

She felt a pang in her chest, but managed to scowl at him instead of cry. "He didn't dump me, he _rejected_ me," she said, the words hurting more than her voice let on, "saying he 'dumped' me implies that there was a relationship there to begin with." She turned her gaze away and paddled out, ignoring anything he called after her.

She lost track of time when she surfed, easily losing herself in the water. She forgot how great it felt, as though the water was washing away all of her negative feelings from the past two weeks. She understood why she needed to surf every other day at the least; it was like an antidepressant.

' _Screw Howzer,'_ she thought after she went ashore to take a break, ' _this feels too great to give it up because of some stupid -'_ Her thoughts ceased and the only sound in her brain was white noise when she saw Howzer, walking beside Gilthunder with his surfboard under his arm and a smile on his face.

It was unfair, she wanted to wail when she saw him smiling at something Gilthunder was saying. The sun caught on his hair, his smile lit up his face, and having gone so long without seeing him made her heart ache at how handsome he looked. What made it so unfair was that he looked completely fine, and she was still nursing a broken heart.

She took a few deep breaths and set her surfboard into the sand, quickly turning around and sitting on her towel before he spotted her. The sight of the ocean was just as calming, and she timed her breathing so it matched the ebb and flow of the waves. She closed her eyes as she leaned back on her elbows, tilting her head back so she could take a deep breath to smell the salty ocean air before letting out a contented sigh.

"Um - hi."

Her heart lifted with hope when she raised her head, but those hopes fell when she recognized the person standing over her was not Howzer.

"Gustaf?" She spoke his name in surprise, sitting up on her palms. "What are you doing here?"

He scowled and looked in the direction of the parking lot. "It's a public beach," he huffed.

"No, I mean - why are you talking to me," she said, still leaning back on her palms.

"You're just - sitting alone," he said, his cheeks turning red as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "And I-I wanted to see if maybe… you'd like some company?" He gestured at the patch of sand beside her.

"Sure," she shrugged, picking up her duffel bag and throwing it to her other side to make room for him, "if you don't mind getting sand in your trousers."

"Living around here, it's inevitable," he said, squatting down and sitting down gingerly, slowly displacing sand instead of kicking it out in waves - ' _he's not Howzer don't compare them.'_

"So, what brings you out here?" She asked, gesturing at the ocean in front of them. "Last I heard, you prefer the sanctuary of your family's cool, delightfully air-conditioned ice cream shop."

"Jericho kicked me out," he said, sounding miserable.

"What a coincidence," she chuckled bitterly, "my sister did the same to me."

"Yeah?" He sounded interested.

"Yeah, I haven't been out here in a few days - she was starting to get worried. She knows how important surfing is to me," she explained.

"That's surprising," he mumbled.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" She asked, glancing at him.

"Didn't she lose her leg to a shark years ago?" He asked bluntly.

"Eh, she's gotten used to it," she said with a shrug. "She does trials for prosthetics all the time now, but she has yet to find one that doesn't rust or sustain damage from saltwater." After a beat of silence she said, "Y'know, she occasionally jokes that she wishes the shark had taken both of her legs - because if her legs were even, she could just surf with stumps."

"That… sounds absolutely terrible," he declared, and Celia laughed.

"Yeah, that's what I said - but my sister's sense of humor has taken a turn for the morbid since then," she explained with a shrug.

"Heh, yeah…" he drifted off.

Things were silent between them and she glanced at him, noting that he was glaring at the sand in front of him. "Why are you really talking to me, Gustaf?" She asked him.

"What, I can't just talk to one of my former classmates?" He asked, scowling at her.

"Not when it's me," she responded, reminding him, "Gustaf, you _hate_ me."

"I don't hate you -" he began to say.

She interrupted him with, "-Our senior year of high school you refused to sign my yearbook, and when the teacher asked you why you looked me dead in the eye and said, 'because I hate her'." She turned to look at him and said, "So, why are you talking to me?"

"I was a dumb kid -"

"That was four years ago -"

"I had a crush on you, and I resented you because you obviously liked Howzer," he snapped at her. "You never gave _anyone_ a chance because of him."

That was news to her. All she could muster was a surprised, "Oh."

"Yeah," he scoffed.

Celia was quiet before saying, "You heard about what happened."

Gustaf laughed and said, "Celia, the whole town knows."

"Who did Howzer tell?" She asked, looking at him in desperate confusion.

"His mom," he deadpanned.

"How did I forget that he's a mama's boy," she grumbled to herself while dragging her hands down her face.

Gustaf hummed and then continued, "And then his mom told all of the other mom's, and those mom's told their sons, and now there's practically a line of guys waiting to talk to you now that he's out of the picture," he explained breezily.

Celia gaped at him in disbelief. "You've gotta be shitting me."

"I'm not," he said, nodding towards her opposite side.

She looked in that direction and saw a handful of people milling about the beach. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh my god, you're as dense as he is!" Gustaf exclaimed in disbelief. "Look at all of the guys." She gave him a suspicious glare before taking the time to actively look at the guys, as he had said. "Notice anything now?"

"Yeah," she mumbled before saying, "why is Marmas there? He's, like, twelve."

"Marmas is a year younger than us," Gustaf told her dryly.

"Well, he looks twelve," she said. "Y'know, Gustaf, when you aren't being a jerk you're almost pleasant company," she told him, glancing at him with a small smirk. She glanced over the men loitering nearby before looking at Gustaf and asking him, "Why do they even want to talk to me?"

Gustaf gaped at her in disbelief. "Are you serious?" He asked, frowning at her. At her blank stare he mumbled, "Oh my god, you are serious." He sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Because you're… well… y'know…" he gestured at her awkwardly with his free hand. She continued to stare at him blankly. "It's because you're pretty okay?" He grumbled, his cheeks red as he looked away from her.

"I-I am?" She sat up completely, staring at him in surprise.

"Yeah, and you're really nice - you volunteer for beach-cleanup every weekend, and you're always smiling at people, and when you talk to people you seem like you give a crap about what they're saying…" he drifted off, his cheeks pink as he stared resolutely at the ocean.

"I… this is news to me," Celia laughed nervously while pulling her legs to her chest, unsure what to do with the new information.

"Yeah, because everyone is afraid to talk to you with Howzer hovering around!" He griped. "But, ever since… y'know…"

"Since he rejected me and walked away from ten years of friendship without looking back -" she tried to say with a deadpan tone, turning her gaze back towards the ocean when she failed to do so and the words caught in her throat.

"You're…" Gustaf was quiet before saying, "you're still hurting because of it, aren't you?"

"That night, I was intentionally vague when he asked me about who I liked," she began to tell him, the words leaving her before she had a chance to stop herself, "and I told him that I'd rather have part of him than none of him - but when he asked if it was him and I told him, he still walked away and hasn't spoken to me since -"

Saying it out loud was painful, and she raised her hand to cover her mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Celia…" Gustaf sounded uncomfortable, so she pulled her hand away from her mouth while taking a deep breath.

"It was nice talking to you, Gustaf, but I think I'd best head home," she said in a rush as she stood up to shake the sand off of her towel.

"I - yeah, sure," he sounded awkward as he stood up with her, standing there oddly as she folded her towel and shoved it into her duffel bag.

"I know it doesn't mean a lot right now," she said, hesitating as she turned towards the parking lot, "but… I'm really sorry if I ever hurt you." She looked up to meet his eyes as she apologized, and he smiled at her.

"That's another reason people like you," he said gently, "you're always so honest."

"And you look a lot better when you smile," she told him, showing him an honest smile before she turned around to walk towards the parking lot. She felt a pair of eyes on her and turned to look around, her breath catching in her chest when she met Howzer's eyes.

He was walking back onto the beach, soaking wet with his board under his arm; the look of him implied that he'd wiped out. His expression was sour as he said something to Gil; his eyes seemed to scan the beach until his gaze landed on her. Their eyes met, and Celia found herself mentally begging him to come talk to her.

But even from a distance, she saw the way he frowned before turning away from her and shifting his footing so his back was facing her.

All of the relaxation she had felt over the past few hours was gone in a second, and the same thick, cloying feeling returned to her throat as the ache in her chest started all over again.

' _That's as much of an answer as any,'_ ran through her mind as she stumbled to throw her things into the bed of her truck. She barely made it to the driver's seat before tears were dripping down her cheeks, her eyes stinging when she fumbled to wipe her eyes.

X-O-X

Senti was displeased when Celia told her about what had happened at the beach.

"That _dick_!" She exclaimed, her prosthetic clanking on the linoleum floor as she paced the length of the kitchen.

"Gustaf or Howzer?" Celia deadpanned, her voice hollow.

"You know exactly who I'm talking about," her sister snapped as Celia dropped her apron over her head and went to tie it. "I can't believe -!"

"Sis," her voice was firm, and Senti stopped mid-sentence.

"On the plus side, you've found out that it'll be easy for you to find someone else," she pointed out; her tone implied that she didn't really believe the words coming out of her mouth.

"No, it won't," she sighed while shaking her head. "Howzer is…" she drifted off and Senti let out an exaggerated groan of frustration.

"I swear to god, if the word 'irreplaceable' leaves your lips I will smack you," she threatened, before tacking on, "lovingly."

"Because everything you do is loving," she joked weakly.

X-O-X

Howzer's car wasn't in the parking lot when she went surfing again two days later, and after a few hours in the water it was Marmas who approached her. He seemed significantly more nervous than Gustaf had been, fidgeting with his hands and looking anywhere but at her.

"So…" she said slowly while standing up, "I'm gonna hit a few more waves. Will you watch my things?"

"U-um, yes! Sure!" He nodded emphatically, and she gave him a small smile before heading out to the water again. She knew she should have kept it short, but she always failed to count the number of waves before paddling back to shore.

She was breathless when she returned to the beach, trudging through the sand as she approached Marmas with a bright smile. "Thanks," she said as she kneeled down to open her bag, subtly checking the inside of it while reaching for her towel to shake out the sand. "I hate to make you watch my things only to ditch you immediately after," she said apologetically.

"N-no, i-it's fine," he said, his cheeks red. She hesitated while shaking out her towel, eyeing him carefully.

"How about I treat you to a shaved ice?" She suggested, using that as an opportunity to check the inside of her wallet. The hope that washed over his face vanished when she said, "It's what I do for my little brother when I bring him with me."

"That's very generous of you to offer, but I'll be fine," he said with a defeated voice.

"Marmas? Are you alright?" She asked with a concerned frown, letting down her hair from the bun she always kept it up in while she was surfing and shaking out the saltwater.

He blushed and nodded. "I'm fine - just the heat!" He said, forcing a smile.

"Alright, well - if that's the case, you should go drink some water, okay? Take care of yourself!" She chided him gently as she went to leave, running her hands over the inside of her duffel bag to check that her phone was still in its pocket. She hesitated when she saw Howzer's car in the parking lot - parked right next to hers.

Her spirits lifted and she found herself looking around the beach, her breath catching her throat when her eyes finally settled on Howzer. He had been looking at her, but as soon as she met his eyes he looked away again.

It didn't hurt any less.

X-O-X

"You know, you should get a new board."

"Is that your way of announcing your company?" Celia asked Arden, frowning at the sand he kicked onto her towel. "And I like my board."

"It looks pretty old," he said, leaning forward to look at it, sticking out of the sand.

"That's because it was a sixteenth birthday present from my mom," she said. "Most kids get cars - I got my own board. And besides, I take care of it. Not even a scratch on this baby," she said while gesturing at it.

"Yeah, but your ankle strap is looking pretty frayed," he said.

"I don't even need it, Arden," she scoffed, "I just wear it as a safety thing. Like a BMX pro wearing elbow pads. Somebody has to be a good influence on the young people," she sounded sarcastic as she nodded towards a group of kids who appeared to be between the ages of eleven and fourteen, floating out in the water. "Besides, everybody knows the only reason anybody uses their ankle straps on this beach is because old man Dreyfus is a hardass," she continued, nodding towards the building attached to the boardwalk. "I swear, it's like he has a sixth sense for people not using theirs," she grumbled.

"You think so?" Arden said, tilting his head to the side contemplatively.

"When I was your age, I was nearly banned from the beach for not wearing mine," she deadpanned.

"Pft. 'When you were my age'. You make yourself sound like an old woman," he scoffed.

"That's because I am, compared to your toddler-ass," she teased while standing up and saying, "I'm gonna hit a few more waves."

"I'll come with you!" He exclaimed, kicking sand everywhere as he scrambled to his feet. She laughed and welcomed the company. After she returned to the shore it followed the same pattern as the days before; she saw Howzer's car, and when she found him on the beach he looked away as soon as they made eye-contact.

And just like the other days, it still hurt just as much.

It followed that pattern for another week, and instead of getting better, Celia only felt the ache in her chest grow worse.

X-O-X

Of the boys who flirted with Celia while she was taking a break from surfing on the beach, her neighbors and locals had run out; it had started being tourists who wouldn't leave her alone - but they were significantly pushier. It was when they were talking to her that she missed Howzer; he was great at scaring away tourists. Apparently he had been good at scaring away everybody.

But without him around, they got cocky.

The worst ones were the showoffs. Arden had already been thrown off of his board twice by overzealous tourists who didn't want to wait their turn or keep their eyes out for other surfers.

"These idiots are going to hurt somebody," Celia declared as she helped Arden climb onto his surfboard. "It's like they don't know how the ocean works."

"Oh, they know how it works - well enough to surf, themselves," he griped.

"Ugh, I'm reluctant to go out there because of those jerks," she groaned, her shoulders drooping. "Why are they all migrating here en masse now?" Not too far off they could hear shouting and turned their attention to see Howzer and Gilthunder arguing with some tourists.

"Oh, great," Arden muttered, "I didn't even see them show up." Celia didn't know if Arden was talking about Howzer and Gilthunder, or the tourists they were arguing with. They had already seen them around; they apparently were brothers, and had bragged to Celia about their parent's beach house that they were staying at.

Seeing Howzer made her heart ache, and with a heavy sigh she turned to Arden. "I need to hit a wave," she told him, "can you cover me?"

"Sure thing," he said with a nod.

She turned and began paddling out, smiling as she stood up on her board when a wave lifted her higher. She was grinning as she rode the wave, laughing when she ducked as she was carried under a pipeline. She surfed through the spray of the crashing wave behind her, but her joy ended when she heard someone calling her name.

She barely glanced over her shoulder in time to see something arching over the top of the wave, a sharp edge colliding with the side of her head.

She felt her board fly away from her, all of the wind knocking out of her when she hit the water hard. The blow to her head made her dizzy enough she couldn't tell which way was up or down, the only thing anchoring her being her ankle strap attaching her to her board. But she was so disoriented, and it was made worse when she choked on water.

Her vision started turning black as she felt something tighten around her waist and yank her through the water.

-X-

There was pain in Celia's chest, her throat was burning, and she couldn't breathe. But then she coughed, the taste of seawater and bile filling her mouth as she rolled over and threw up saltwater onto the sand.

Her ears were ringing and she still felt dizzy, the world around her spinning as she felt gentle hands on her shoulders, rolling her onto her back. She was vaguely aware of someone saying her name, followed by something else as she saw their hand swimming into focus.

"-Lia? Celia? C'mon, Celia -" she felt gentle pats on her cheek and she coughed as her hearing returned.

"Howzer?" She rasped when she recognized the face staring down at her.

"Oh, thank god," he sighed, his smile brilliant; she was vaguely aware of his arm tight around her shoulders as he held her up, his other hand smoothing over her cheek and supporting her neck. "Celia, I need you to count my fingers," he said in a rush, his smile turning into genuine concern as he moved his hand from her cheek to hold it in front of her face.

She coughed again and wheezed out a weak, "Two," as her eyes grew heavy.

"Nonono, Celia, I need you to stay awake for just a little bit longer," he said, his voice urgent, "there's an ambulance on the way, but I need you to stay with me until it gets here, okay?"

She coughed and managed to nod, her throat hurting as he held up his hand again. "Four," she choked, coughing hard.

"You're doing great, Celia, the ambulance is almost here - how many fingers?"

"I -" her eyes were swimming out of focus again, his hand wavering, "-six."

"Shit," he whispered. "Celia, I need you to stay awake for just a bit longer -"

"Howzer?" She rasped, her eyes growing heavy, her throat hurting as she said, "I'm - really dizzy."

"-I don't blame you, but - Celia, please, I need you to stay awake," he sounded desperate, and she found herself smiling.

"Y'know," she choked, her instincts telling her to shut up because her throat was hurting so bad, "I've had a lot of fantasies of you fondling me and k-kissing me -" when she tried to laugh it turned into a fit of coughs. "I'd just… h-have liked t-to -" she couldn't stop coughing, and she could hear sirens getting louder and louder, "-been awake f-for it."

"I really don't know what to say to that," he said, his voice weak; she smiled when she felt his hand on her cheek again, his thumb smoothing over the ridge beneath her eye. "You've got shadows, Ceel - what have you been doing?"

The sirens were echoing in her ears and making her head throb. "I've... lost... sleep... over... you," she whispered, her eyes growing heavy.

"Celia? Celia, stay with me -" she was aware of him saying something else, but the blurriness in her vision quickly faded to black once again.

X-O-X

There was rhythmic beeping echoing in her ears when Celia woke up, her eyes and throat burning as her head throbbed to the rhythm of the beeping. There was something pressed over her face, and she groaned as she opened her eyes slowly, shutting them again quickly when she was nearly blinded. As soon as she made a sound there were scuffling noises around her and someone shouting.

She tried opening her eyes again when she felt something smoothing over her forehead as whatever was covering her mouth was pulled away.

"Celia?" Spoke a hushed voice, "Celia, can you hear me?" It felt like her breath was rattling in her chest as she inhaled deeply.

"I feel like shit," she winced when she heard her voice; it sounded even worse than when she had been pulled out of the water and Howzer -

 _Howzer._

It was a testament to how messed up she was that she didn't shoot up like a slingshot.

When her vision swam into focus she recognized her mother's worried face looking down at her, her sister's head visible over her shoulder.

"Of course you feel like shit," Senti said, her voice shaking. "You had a concussion and nearly drowned."

"I forgive Howzer for everything he has done in the past month," Nico made himself known a few feet away, "he's the one who pulled you out of the water and gave you CPR."

"And kept you awake until the ambulance arrived," her mother said, helping her sit up and passing her the glass of water she had been reaching for.

She chugged the whole cup greedily, taking a few deep breaths when the cup was empty and clearing her throat. Her voice didn't sound so bad when she nervously said, "Where… where is he?"

"Already gone," Senti scoffed.

"He grabbed your stuff from the beach and then chased the ambulance here," Nico told her, sounding absolutely gleeful, "and when we showed up he was on the verge of tears."

"But he left really quick after we got here," her sister continued.

Celia opened her mouth to interrogate her sister - she had a feeling that she was intentionally leaving something out - but a spike of pain shot through her head; she immediately reached up to clutch at her head, hesitating when her fingertips brushed over soft cotton and not her hair. "Where's my hair?" She said abruptly. Her family suddenly looked shocked, sharing nervous looks as a male nurse came into the room.

"I'm very sorry, but the doctor had to shave it," he said, his voice apologetic as he approached the bed, gesturing for Celia to slide off of the bed so he could help her stand. "You had a nasty blow to the head," he explained, the overhead lights reflecting on the shiny name tag pinned to his scrubs that read 'Hendrickson'. "Would you prefer a female nurse?"

"No, it's fine," she huffed, accepting the help.

"You're… okay with that? Your hair, I mean," Senti spoke up, sounding a bit nervous. "I mean, you've been growing your hair out for _years_."

"Mostly out of laziness than vanity, it's whatever," she said with a shrug, hesitating when she felt something brushing her other shoulder. She reached up and touched it, grimacing when her fingers touched her hair. "So they only shaved one side of my head," she deadpanned.

"I think it looks cool," Nico declared, "you look like a character from The Hunger Games."

"That is not a compliment, Nico," she laughed weakly, "anyways, I need to use the bathroom -"

"Of course - do you feel alright to walk?" Hendrickson asked, helping her take a few steps.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better," she assured him with a smile.

"Celia," her mother's voice sounded stern, "do not lie. He's a medical professional, you must be honest with him or you risk hurting yourself more."

Celia looked at her mother with a pensive expression before smiling at Hendrickson weakly. "I can see straight and clearly, I just feel kind of… unsteady."

"That's normal," he said with a nod, "I can help you to the restroom and then fetch a female nurse to aid you if you need any assistance -"

"I've got this," Senti declared brusquely, stepping between him and Celia to help her sister to the bathroom.

Celia chuckled and shook her head as Senti helped her lean against the bathroom counter. "Thanks, sis," she said with a grateful smile.

"Now, I'll be right out here if you need my help, okay?" She said with heavy concern. Celia nodded and closed the door, sighing with relief immediately after.

Celia became aware of how gross her mouth tasted as she washed her hands - probably because of the combination of seawater and bile she had spat up - and was thankful there was a dispenser of mouthwash with tiny paper cups beside the sink. When she spat out the mouthwash and straightened up, she stopped when she finally saw her reflection.

' _It does look kind of cool,'_ she mused as she inspected the dark green fuzz on the side of her head, spreading about half an inch from the edge of the gauze pad. ' _Ugh, but what will Howzer think -'_ she froze as soon as the thought crossed her mind and a memory came back to her.

Years before, Celia had shaved her head in solidarity with a classmate who had been diagnosed with cancer. Some other students had called her a space alien, and Howzer had stood up for her.

She pressed the heel of her palm to the uninjured side of her head as she closed her eyes. For a moment she wondered how she had forgotten that memory, only to realize with a heavy heart that it was one of many. Celia had always been sensitive, and Howzer had always been there to protect her from people who saw her bleeding heart as a weakness or something worthy of mockery.

All of those memories came back to her in a rush, and she found herself feeling dizzy as another spike of pain shot through her head from the bandaged spot; she slumped against the wall opposite from the mirror, covering her face tightly as her shoulders shook.

' _He's always protecting me,'_ she thought, sliding down the wall with her face in her hands. Then she thought about how she had encouraged him to speak to Diane, without bothering to find out if she had a boyfriend, then his rejection and how he must have felt when he found out _her_ feelings - ' _and I'm never protecting him.'_ Her head was throbbing.

She gasped softly and looked up when she heard gentle knocking on the bathroom door. "Celia? Are you alright?" Her mother's voice called out.

"I-I'm fine, mom," she responded, "I just felt dizzy and had to wait a moment."

"Okay, well - whenever you're ready, the doctor is here to see you." Celia took a deep breath and opened the door, smiling at the doctor speaking gently with her father.

"Ah, there's my little baby seal," her father declared, rushing over to hug her tightly. "I'm glad you're awake, sweet pea - you were out for a few hours," he explained in a rush.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" She found herself asking, immediately demanding, "Who's watching the bakery?"

Her father looked surprised before he chuckled and stepped around her to escort her towards the bed. "You're starting to sound like you already own it," he said, "I closed up as soon as Howzer called me and told me what happened."

"Howzer called you?" She asked, her heart skipping a beat. "Is he -?"

"No, no, he left shortly after the rest of us arrived - he was here long enough to give us your things," he explained.

"That's what I told you," Senti huffed.

"Well, enough of that - Celia, this is Doctor Jenna Twain, she's the one who cleaned up that nasty wound on your head," her father introduced her to the doctor as he sat her down on the bed.

"Hendrickson told me that you still feel a bit unsteady when you stand?" She asked after shaking her hand, pulling a pen-flashlight out of her pocket.

"Yeah," she said with a nod.

"And you felt dizzy in the bathroom just now?" SHe asked, using the light to check her pupils. She nodded, taking a deep breath when she hummed and dropped the flashlight back into the pocket of her coat. "I need you to be honest and tell me if you have any kind of discomfort, of any variety. Any headaches, any changes in mood since you woke up -?"

"Well, every few minutes I feel a spike of pain through my head," she said, gesturing towards the spot where the gauze had been taped to her head, "and whenever I feel that pain, that's when things get kind of spinny - and not in the fun way."

She chuckled at her statement and nodded. "Those are the standard symptoms of a concussion, as one would expect. On top of the fact that you nearly drowned, that can exacerbate any symptoms. I was speaking with your father, and we agree that it would be in your best interests for you to stay overnight so we can monitor you, in case those spikes of pain become more frequent or more severe."

"To be honest, I think that's a good idea," Celia agreed with a weak nod. "I, um -" she spoke up as the doctor was about to turn around, "-it feels like it's throbbing, right now," she admitted quietly; the pain was persisting, and had actually grown worse. She was starting to feel her eyes burning and squeezed them shut.

"If must be nasty if you're admitting it," Nico said dryly.

She heard a soft smacking noise, quickly followed by Senti saying, "Don't be a jerk, Nico."

"I'll send Hendrickson in with some painkillers. Besides that, the most we can do for you is let you have some rest," Doctor Twain told her as she and her father helped her onto the bed again. "One warning I have to give you for when you leave is that you can't do any activities that put your brain at risk - like surfing."

Celia felt her heart sinking and nodded weakly. "I understand," she whispered.

Senti came around the bed and took her hand while sitting on the edge of it. "I love you and I don't take joy in your pain," she said, her voice grave, "but at least you'll know how I've felt ever since I lost my leg."

Celia couldn't help but chuckle.

X-O-X

Celia's head felt light as she watched the locks of long, curly dark green hair falling to the floor with every buzz of the clippers in Ana's hands.

"Not as bad," she said to Celia as she brushed her fingers over the freshly-cut hair on the back of her head. "But I refuse to buzz it all the way, just so it's a matching length to your fuzzy-patch."

"It's fine, I can deal," she chuckled, turning her head to look at her hair in the mirror. "It's even shorter than Howzer's," she pointed out with a small smirk.

"You should do mine, next," Senti declared, leaning against the bathroom door.

"Senti? Why do you want to shave all of your hair off?" Celia laughed at her sister.

"So we can match, duh," she huffed with a roll of her eyes.

She stared at her younger sister for a long moment before she stood up slowly. "I'm the older sister," she deadpanned, "I'm the one who's supposed to be looking out for you."

"You may be the older sister, but I'm the bigger sister," Senti replied with a smirk. Celia was by no means short, but Senti was nearly six feet tall; a little less because of how she balanced most of her weight on her 'good' leg with her hip cocked out.

"Ugh, just shut up and agree to look out for each other!" Ana groaned with frustration, "Your healthy sibling relationship makes me sick."

The sister's laughed and Celia raised her hand to play with one of her curls, only to falter at her shoulder. "Right," she mumbled to herself. "This is going to take some getting used to," she admitted, rubbing the hair on the back of her head.

"What's going to take getting used to is your recovery period," Senti told her, her smirk turning into a genuine grin of delight. "And as soon as you're accustomed to sitting on your ass, it'll be back to work!"

"I don't even know what I'm supposed to do," Celia groaned, slumping against the doorframe while rubbing her face. "No strenuous activity, mental or physical. What does that even mean?"

"It means, no brain games for a week, and no surfing until that scrape on your head is completely gone, and the bruise is entirely faded," her sister told her. That was going to take awhile.

The scrape from the edge of the surfboard hitting her head was about three inches across and one inch wide, and overnight a bruise had formed around the contact point to where an inch and half of her head spreading out from the edge of the scrape was colored with blotches of dark purple and yellow. The bruise itself was the ugliest part; the scrape could have looked badass on its own, but with the bruise it looked like she lost a fight with a brick wall.

"It's a good measure of how long it will take you to recover," Ana assured her. "And who knows, maybe that fuzz will have grown out enough that I can buzz it again so it's all an even length." After a beat of silence she added, "It's unfair that the short hair still looks that good on you."

"You think so?" Celia asked, stepping back to look in the mirror again; she turned her head so only the side of her head that wasn't discolored by her bruise was visible.

"With cheekbones like yours? I'd almost say you look better with the short hair," her best friend declared with her hands on her hips.

"Well, what matters is now you don't have to worry about any hair sticking to that nastiness," her sister said, going for the box of square gauze pads on the counter and the roll of medical tape, "or getting caught on this dumb tape."

"I don't need to keep it covered all the time, Sen," Celia told her with a small smile. "I mean, it needs to air out some."

"Yeah, which it's done over the twenty minutes that Ana spent chopping all of your hair off," she insisted while the girl in question reached for the broom and dustpan she had brought into the bathroom with them.

Celia looked at herself in the mirror for a moment, her eyes going over the angry red mark, and sighed. "Fine," she acquiesced, not wanting to say out loud that she wanted it covered out of insecurity rather than for her health.

X-O-X

Celia's parents and siblings all insisted that she spend time in the bakery during her recovery period, mostly so that they could all keep an eye on her. There was a couch in the office she could nap on if she grew tired, and the doctor said it was acceptable for her to play sudoku as a way of training her brain in the aftermath of the accident.

The day after Celia came home from the hospital, she had a visitor.

"Diane?" She said when she stepped out of the office after Nico popped his head in and told her that someone was there to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"I was worried, silly!" Her friend exclaimed, stepping forward with her arms outstretched; she was stopped quickly by Harlequin, who smiled at her.

"Are you free to be crushed in a hug of overwhelming affection?" He asked playfully, glancing at his girlfriend.

"Maybe something gentler," she chuckled, accepting the hug from Diane.

"I'm not gonna lie, Celia - you look terrible," he said when Diane stepped away.

"Well, that's what happens when a layer of skin is scraped off of your head by the sharp side of a surfboard," she deadpanned, smiling when Diane reached around her shoulder to stroke the tips of her short hair.

"Harlequin, the two of you match!" She declared happily, looking at her boyfriend.

"I disagree," Celia huffed, putting her hands on her hips. She grinned and said, "Harlequin is prettier than me."

"Aw, shucks," he chuckled, his cheeks turning pink as he raised his arm that wasn't carrying his skateboard to rub the back of his neck. "So, have you had a visit from the town hero yet?"

"Town hero?" She repeated, frowning in confusion.

"People have been making a huge deal about Howzer saving you," Diane explained, "they even tried to interview him for the local newspaper!"

"A-are you serious?" She stumbled over her words for a moment, gaping at Celia in shock.

Diane nodded emphatically. "Yeah, and you know what he did?"

"Well, my sister hasn't been letting me read the paper, so no."

"Good thing I brought one," Harlequin said, presenting to her a folded newspaper that he had been holding against his skateboard. "It gets a small frame because he said so little."

"My eyes are still kind of messed up, so I shouldn't be reading print this small," she said after glancing at it.

"He said, 'you shouldn't be making a big deal out of something that any friend would do'," Diane read, hopping excitedly as she clutched the newspaper to her chest. "Do you know what this means?" She asked, looking up to meet Celia's eyes; she couldn't respond, any words caught in her throat as her heart began to race. "It means, he still cares," she supplied, her eyes glittering with happiness for Celia.

"Y-yeah," she mumbled, smiling weakly, "I guess it does."

' _But if he does care,'_ she thought, ' _why haven't I seen him?'_

-X-

The next day, Gilthunder and Griamore showed up together.

"I'm surprised to see you without Howzer," she said as she stepped out of the office.

"He refuses to leave his house until reporters from the newspaper leave him alone," Gil explained breezily. "He actually asked us to check on you on his behalf."

"Seriously?" She wheezed. "Y-you're not lying to make me feel better?" She joked weakly, forcing a small smile.

"Scout's honor," he said, holding up his hand.

"How did your dad react?" Celia asked Griamore, who scoffed.

"The ruffian who hit you has been banned from the beach, and he fired the lifeguard who had been on duty. He plans to offer the job to Howzer, but I doubt he'll take it."

"Oh," she mumbled, raising her hand to play with her hair and stopping when she touched her shoulder.

"Still getting used to it?" Gil asked with a small smile.

"Yeah," she chuckled nervously, rubbing her arm. She took a deep breath, pressing her lips together for a moment. "Gil, can you…" she drifted and cleared her throat. "Can you tell him that… I miss him?" She whispered, her eyes on the floor.

Gil chuckled and said, "Of course."

-X-

Arden showed up the following day with a fresh ankle strap.

"Admit it, if it weren't for that thing you would have drowned," he said, his lips set in a firm line.

"Thanks, Arden," she smiled and pulled him into a hug, which he returned awkwardly. "You're a sweet kid."

"I'm nineteen," he grumbled.

"Oh, you sweet summer child," she laughed gently, ruffling his hair.

"I wasn't originally planning on saying anything about how you look like shit -"

"-I take it all back, you're a little jerk."

-X-

The following day Jericho and Gustaf showed up with a bouquet of flowers and a bubble tea, turning her sister into a bumbling, nervous mess because of her crush on the other girl.

And the next day, a boy she occasionally babysat, named Zeal, visited with his older sister, Guila. He excitedly offered her a teddy bear holding a heart that said "get well BEAR-y soon!" and was so sweet it nearly brought Celia to tears.

"Did everyone establish a calendar for visiting or something?" She asked Senti after the sweet little boy and his sister left. Her sister merely shrugged, a knowing smile on her face. "What's with that smile?" She asked, frowning at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Senti huffed, cleaning the glass case that displayed the array of goodies that their father baked fresh every morning.

"I know you, Senti - either tell me what's going on or I'm going to start overthinking things, and since I suffered a nasty concussion less than a week ago -" she was interrupted by Senti grunting and reaching into her apron pocket to show her the lock screen of her phone. "I can't read that, sis."

"I coordinated the visits with a bunch of your friends, okay?" She huffed, rolling her eyes.

Celia smiled at her sister and gently told her, "Thanks, sis - that's really sweet."

"Anything for my favorite big sister," Senti told her with a wink.

Celia shifted on her heels for a moment, her heart starting to pound rapidly in her chest as she tried to sound casual when she asked, "Where's Howzer on that schedule?" When Senti didn't respond immediately, Celia said her name as a question.

"I asked him to come the day you came back," she told her quietly, "but he never responded."

"Oh," she mumbled, her thoughts immediately going to the article that Diane and Harlequin had shown her the day they visited. "I'm… going to go back into the office," she said quietly. She didn't wait to hear her sister's response, immediately closing the office door behind her.

As soon as she was seated on the couch she picked up her phone and unlocked the screen, immediately going to swipe through her pictures. Almost every picture showed her with her friends, but every picture of herself with friends included Howzer; whether it was just the two of them or in a group.

"I miss you," she muttered to her phone before tossing it to the other end of the couch and pulling her legs to her chest. "I miss you a lot," she whispered, her chin trembling as she squeezed her eyes shut; it pulled on the medical tape holding the gauze pad to her face, which hurt a little bit.

She didn't care.

X-O-X

It was two weeks since the incident, and the scrape had healed enough that Celia didn't need to wear a bandage over it during the day, but she still had to cover it at night. The bruise was also starting to shrink, but that just meant that the ugly yellow splotches were more prominent than the uneven purple ring around the scrape.

Senti had also "allowed" her to start doing more difficult crosswords and sudoku puzzles. It would have amused her how overprotective her sister was being, if it wasn't starting to annoy her. Ana came every day after the first week, saying that she didn't want to risk being too overbearing during her initial recovery days.

"But now that you're doing better, you'll never get rid of me," her best friend told her with a grin and wink. She didn't have the heart to tell Ana that the person she really wanted to see was -

Celia was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the front door of the shop opening, accompanied by the bell.

"Hey, Senti."

Her heart skipped a beat when she heard his voice.

"Is, uh -"

"You have a lot of nerve -" Senti began to say, sounding absolutely livid. Celia genuinely froze in shock. "After everything you've put her through, you have the _audacity_ -" her sister went silent when Celia threw the office door open the rest of the way and swung around the doorframe.

She was slightly breathless and her eyes were wide with hope. "Hi," she breathed when she saw Howzer standing in front of the counter, having turned to face her as soon as she was out of the office; his cheeks were red with embarrassment, his shoulders hunched up to his ears with his hands shoved in his pockets.

As soon as he saw her his shoulders slumped down in relief and his big doofy grin returned to his face; the sight of it made her want to cry. "Hi," he said, sounding relieved. "I'm - I'm glad to see that you're okay," he continued, approaching her slowly and stopping when he was about an arm's length away from her.

"I'm glad to see you," she said, feeling her cheeks heat up as she approached him at the same time; she forgot how infectious his smile was.

"You would have seen her sooner if -" Senti began to snipe, but she went quiet when Celia fixed her with A Look™.

"For some reason the local newspaper has been hounding me," he said, his cheeks pink as he bashfully scratched his cheek.

"Diane and Harlequin came by with that first paper," she told him with a teasing smile, "apparently you're the town hero, now."

"I'd rather just be your hero," he said quietly. Celia gasped softly, the heat in her cheeks rising as her eyes grew wide. He immediately looked shy, leaning away from her to shove his hands in his pockets once more. "Too much?" He asked nervously.

"N-no, I - um -" she raised one hand to nervously twirl her hair and fumbled at her shoulder when she touched nothing. "Still not used to it," she mumbled, moving her hand to rub her arm nervously.

"I -" her breathing hitched when he stepped closer and his hand smoothed over her short hair; she immediately closed her eyes, failing to stifle her grin as her cheeks burned. "I like it," he finally said, retracting his hand. "S-sorry, that was really -" he stopped and shoved his hand in his pocket again.

She suddenly recognized the signs, cursing herself for not figuring it out sooner; she could imagine his hands twitching in his pockets, the way they did when he was reaching for something he really wanted. On top of the way his shoulders seemed to hunch almost imperceptibly towards her, and the way his lips curled and made his eyes crinkle when he looked at her -

Her chin started to tremble, and as soon as panic flashed across his face she stepped forward, her arms immediately slipping under his so she could hug him tightly, the top of her head bumping against his chin.

"I missed you," she whispered. She could feel all of the tension leave his body all at once, his arms quickly going to wrap around her shoulders to hug her back. She loved his hugs; even before the whole affair he always seemed to curl around her, as though he was trying to shield her from anything and everything.

"I'm sorry I made you wait so long," he began, his words leaving him in a rush, "but I-I was scared, and -" he was interrupted by Senti harshly clearing her throat. They stepped apart in a rush, both of them blushing with shy smiles. "Do you want to go out?" He suddenly blurted out, the red in his cheeks begin to spread outwards to cover more of his face. "On a date," he elaborated quickly - the flush had spread as far back as his ears and was starting to continue down his neck - before finally tacking on a shaky, "with me."

"I thought you'd never ask," Celia responded without missing a beat, beaming at him. "Literally, I thought you'd never ask," she said with a light chuckle.

"Do you want to go now?" He asked, stiffly pointing at his car in the parking lot.

"You really want to go now?" She asked, surprised. "When I - y'know?" She pointed at the ugly splotch on her face, and he smiled.

"We have a lot to catch up on," he told her, "and I know a place."

"Let me grab my purse!" She exclaimed, turning and running into the office

-X-

Howzer was rigid as he scrambled to open every door for Celia, including the passenger-side door of his car.

"I've been feeling better for the past few days, you don't have to be in such a scramble," she laughed as she buckled herself in.

"To be honest, your sister has been scaring me and I'm worried that if I don't look sufficiently alarmed she'll chase me away by bashing me on the head with a cookie sheet," he said, checking over his shoulder as he backed out of the parking lot.

"So you aren't actually nervous?" She teased, and he paused when they were at the stop sign.

"I am nervous," he said, tilting his head towards her but keeping his eyes on the road, "but only out of habit. But when I'm around you, I feel myself relaxing instinctively. I'm an idiot for not noticing it before." He turned to look at her, his affectionate smile making her heart race.

"So… where are we going?" She asked, fumbling again when she reached up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear only to be reminded that she didn't have a veil of dark green curls to hide behind any longer.

"Um… Lookout Lot," he said, a faint tremor in his voice as they stopped at the light near the bakery.

"Lookout Lot?" She repeated; it was a parking lot at the edge of the biggest hiking trail in the town, overlooking the town below and the ocean.

It was also called 'The Makeout Lot' by the local teenagers.

"Seriously?" She said, her lips twitching in a smile. He was staring resolutely ahead, his cheeks flaming red. "Okay," she hummed, leaning back and crossing her arms.

"O-okay?" He said, glancing at her, still looking nervous. She grinned at him and nodded. The sight of her smile must have eased some of his nerves, because some of the tension seemed to leave his shoulders as he turned his gaze back to the road as the light turned green. "Lookout it is," he sighed with relief.

"I always forget how beautiful and peaceful it is up here," Celia said as she stepped out of Howzer's car, walking to the front of it to lean against the hood.

"Y-yeah," he sounded nervous and jittery as he walked around and leaned against the hood of his car beside her.

She didn't miss him rubbing his palms on his pant legs. "I haven't seen you this nervous around me since we were kids," she said casually, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I had a crush on you in elementary school," he said in a rush. "I-I wasn't being nice o-or heroic that first time I stood up for you," he confessed.

Celia felt surprised for a moment, until she scowled. "Diane talked to you, didn't she?" She asked.

Howzer chuckled, lowering his head. "It was more like an assault," he admitted. "But, I - I needed it."

"I'm listening," she said, her eyes still focused on the view of the ocean.

"A few weeks ago, when I first saw you a-after - y'know," he fumbled, and she glanced at him to see him nervously rubbing the back of his neck, "it was a dick move, turning away like I did. But I -" he took a deep breath and said, "I was scared."

Celia felt a twinge of regret. "Of me?" She asked quietly

"No!" He exclaimed so loudly and quickly she jumped in surprise. "I-I was scared of change," he confessed. "I've always been scared of change. That's why I've never left town for school, why it took so long for me to confess to Diane, why - why I'm content alternating between beach bum and owning my dad's shop instead of going for pro surfing," he sounded frustrated.

"Why do you think I never told you how I felt?" She asked him quietly. Things were quiet between them for a few moments before she asked with a small smile, "Can we go back to the part about you having a crush on me in elementary school?"

He groaned and smacked his face. "I… I don't think it ever went away," he mumbled, scratching his cheek. "You just became one of my closest friends, and I - I guess I was like you, in the way that I didn't want to risk ruining that.

"And then I met Diane, and I see a lot of the things I like about you in her. And because I wasn't that close with her she seemed… safer, I guess? I know that sounds like a dick thing to say -"

"No, no, it makes sense," she assured him, putting her hand on his arm; usually she would pat his arm twice and then take her hand away, but she kept her hand rested on his bicep. He finally looked at her again, his eyes wide with surprise; she began to retract her hand, but he caught it in one of his before turning to face her completely.

"I'm friends with the lifeguards on the beach," he said, staring into her eyes, "and ever since that first time I saw you after finding out that… you liked me -" he glanced away as his cheeks turned pink; he hesitated for a moment and took a deep breath, "-I had them text me whenever you showed up.

"I knew that you would be upset after what Diane told me, and I figured that you wouldn't want to see me - t-that you'd leave if you saw my car. So if they texted me I would go to the beach, and I swear, I meant to talk to you, but I just -" he closed his eyes and hung his head. "Every time I saw you I would lose my nerve," he muttered. "It was the way I felt whenever I tried to ask Diane out.

"And then - then I saw all of those guys talking to you, and I -" he looked genuinely torn as he said, "I started thinking that one of those guys would be better for you than me. They had the guts to approach you and talk to you, but I was absolutely terrified because suddenly things were different and I didn't know what to do -" he lifted his hand and ran it through his hair, a sign that he was really frustrated.

She stopped him when she pressed her palm to his cheek to make him look at her. "But I don't want any of those guys," she told him gently. His cheeks blazed red when she said, "The only guy I've ever wanted has been you."

The redness in his cheek had spread down his neck, and he cleared his throat nervously. "C-Celia, c-can I -?" He paused and cleared his throat, taking a deep breath before he said in a rush, "Can I kiss you?" She was surprised, her hand flinching away from his face as she stared up at him in surprise. "Right, s-sorry, it's probably really soon for that -" he was silenced when she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down to plant her lips against his.

It was hardly a peck because he stumbled a bit, and immediately after Celia stepped away from him while covering her face with her hands. "I'm really sorry, you asked and I got really excited -" it was his turn to interrupt her, pulling her hands away from her face while leaning down. He went to kiss her, but her head was tilted at an angle where his lips brushed against the corner of her mouth.

They both laughed nervously, and he cupped her cheek while she put her hands on his chest. "One more time," she said quietly while smiling at him. The third time they paused when their noses brushed, tilting their heads slightly so their lips slanted together perfectly. It was hardly a press of lips, but Celia felt a cage of butterflies released in her stomach when his lips lingered against hers.

When they broke apart there was a tense silence between them before she giggled. She moved her hands from his chest to hide her face as she blushed, but Howzer didn't hesitate to knock her hands away as he leaned down, their second full kiss absolutely searing as he grabbed her hips and turned her so she was pressed to the hood of his car.

"So," he sounded breathless when he pulled away. "Between the two of us, we've pretty much liked each other for twenty years."

"Jeez, when you put it like that," she laughed airily; her breathing hitched when he squeezed her thighs.

"I-is that okay?" He sounded nervous.

"I wasn't lying when I made the line about having fantasies of you kissing and fondling me," she said breathlessly, smirking at him. His face flushed bright red and he raised his head to look away from her, making her laugh. "You're adorable," she cooed, playing with the hair on the back of his neck.

His cheeks were bright red as he cleared his throat, moving one hand from her waist to scratch his cheek. "C-can we-?" He looked shy and she giggled before tugging him down to press her lips against his again.

They stayed true to The Makeout Lot's name until they could hear Celia's phone ringing in the car.

X-O-X

"So, Howzer and I are dating now."

"Fucking _finally_!"

-X-

"Yeah, Celia and I made it official."

"Thank _god_."


End file.
